Bangladesh Church calls for youth to learn communication skills

A Catholic diocese in northern Bangladesh organized leadership and skill development training for college and university-level youth from July 14 to 18.

The program, organized by the Diocese of Rajshahi, took place at Christo Jyoti (light of Christ) Pastoral Center.

"Building youth leadership, the stepping stone to building a participatory local church" was the theme.

In his address, Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi said, "Today’s youth are the life of the future church."

"The youth in our church have a lot of work to do, so this training is organized on youth leadership. In the current era, the youth must acquire leadership skills to bring about change in the family, society, and country," he said. 

"In the history of the church and the Bible, we see that God's chosen spokesmen have given the right leadership by bearing witness to preaching the message of change of mind, justice, and peace,"

Father Suresh Purification said, animating the participants. "Similarly, we, as qualified leaders, should preach Christianity through Christian leadership by developing our communication skills.” 

He said communication development is essential to ensure sustained attention to issues and concerns, which is necessary to get the essential commitment from leaders and the wider public to give meaning to the process, he said.

Development communication is the integration of strategic communication into development projects. Strategic communication is a powerful tool that can improve the chances of the success of development projects. It strives for behavior change, not just information dissemination, education, or awareness-raising.

The priest added that communication is a vital part of the family, society, and country's progress.

Torongo Soren, a participant, said, "We are grateful to the church for organizing such an important training for us. We learned many things through this training which will be helpful in our personal lives." 

The topics of the training included concepts and characteristics of responsible leaders and leadership; leadership in the light of the Holy Bible, realities of leadership: crisis and possibilities, development communication; protection and safeguard; core humanitarian standards, facilitation skills; and planning for the church and country.

As many as 35 youths, a priest, and a deacon from different parishes of the Rajshahi diocese participated in the training.