The Annual Meeting of the Bishops, Major Superiors, CRI and Members of the Priest Council of the Agra Ecclesiastical Region was held on 13th& 14th November 2019 at NavSadhana, Varanasi. The theme for the reflection was the Papal Exhortation “ChristusVivit”, a Document on the Youth. Two youth from each diocese of the region along with the youth directors were invited to participate in the deliberations.
The 12 regional Bishops, 55 Major Superiors and ARCRI members, 14 priests of ARPC and the 5 regional commission secretaries 16 youth and three youth directors were the participants.
The inaugural session began at 8.30 am on 13th November with a reading from the Holy Bible followed by a short reflection, prayer and lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries. The students from Kala Kendra welcomed the delegates with a beautiful dance and the local Ordinary Bishop Eugene Joseph, welcomed the august gathering. In his keynote address Most Rev. Albert D’Souza shed light on the theme “Christ is Alive” and the youth is the now of God. He shared his experience of his long association with the youth and called on the gathering to be sensitive to them, to listen to them and to accompany them.
Then the ARPC Vice-President introduced Rev. Fr. Joe Arimpoor SDB, the resource person.
Based on his research and personal experience with the youth, Fr. J. Arimpoor shared his reflection on the theme of the day. Sr. Sheeba, UMI and Sr. Ann Mary, FSLG explained what they have been doing as lawyers and made the house aware of the existence of regional lawyers forum of Catholic Priests and Religious for U.P., U.K. and Rajasthan.
Two youth animators and two youth representatives took part in the panel discussion moderated by the resource person. The animators shared their experiences of working with the youth, and the youth representatives raised two important issues in their sharing viz, the problem of employment in our institutions and communication gap between the youth and the church personnel. After tea at 4 pm, all the participants were taken to St. Mary’s Cathedral, Varanasi for the inaugural celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Diocese of Varanasi.
On 14th November after the Eucharist, the session began at 9 am. After a brief input, the assembly was divided into 8 groups for discussion. At the end evaluation of the two days’ programme was moderated by the Archbishop and the meeting came to a close with lunch.
