India: Manipur Church to host 4th Northeast Regional Youth Convention

The Manipur Catholic Youth Organisation (MCYO), a Catholic youth body commissioned by the Archdiocese of Imphal in the Northeast state of India is to hold the fourth Northeast Regional Youth Convention from October 22 to 26.

It will be organized in collaboration with the Northeast Regional Youth Commission (NERYC).

The event will be held on the campus of Catholic School, Canchipur, Imphal.

The Youth Convention aims at bringing all the ethnic groups from the seven states of the Northeast to stay, pray, and celebrate their youthfulness together as one family, which has vital social, moral, and spiritual implications.

The theme is "Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive" (Pope Francis).

The Convention seeks to instill in youth a sense of unity to be harbingers of love and peace amid strikes and division, to gain new insights, and to exchange the rich cultural diversity, moral values, and responsible youth in the church and society.

For the success of the upcoming convention, the MCYO, Manipur has conducted a veneration of the Convention cross in each district of the state. It also released a prepared prayer for the NERYC Convention, as the event is known, in the hope that awareness, interest, and a sense of participation can be created in the seven states of Northeast India.

More than six archbishops and 200 priests, including 1,000 youths from across the Northeast, are expected to participate in the event.

Currently, the MCYO office is seen in full swing for the preparation of the coming convention in Manipur.

The Catholic Youth Organisations from various districts are also busy doing various fundraisers for the convention instead of seeking donations in the past few days.

The resource persons for the events are Father Chetan Machado, National Youth Director, Indian Catholic Youth Movement and executive secretary, Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI); Jimmy Thang, Rajan Baruala, Brother John Noel, Taize France, Dr. RK Lenin Singh, Head of Psychiatry Department, RIMS; and Father Linus Neli, Judicial Vicar of Diocesan Tribunal and Director, Retreat House Imphal. 

The Inaugural Mass on October 23 is to be presided over by Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal.

As reported by the MCYO office, the convention throughout the day will be streamed live on the MCYO Facebook page.

The MCYO, Director Father Albert Leivon, and Father John Barman, MSFS, Director of NERYC, invite and seek the faithful for cooperation and pray for the success of the event.