Bangladesh Church prepares for Vatican synod on youth ‎

The Commission for Youth of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB) has held a preparatory and orientation programme for youth coordinators and ministers from the country's eight dioceses for the worldwide Synod of Bishops on young people to be held next year at the Vatican.  The daylong programme on July 14 at the CBCP center in Dhaka focused on exchanging information, views and a plan of action leading up to the 2018 synod, organizers said. 

Pope Francis has convoked the 15th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the ‎Vatican in October 2018, on the theme, “Youth, Faith, and Vocational Discernment”. ‎

"The Vatican has offered us some guidelines and a questionnaire on faith, vocation and pastoral works which are core issues of the upcoming synod, so we have called all diocesan youth coordinators and ministers to share the information and set the next course of action," Holy Cross Brother Uzzal Placid Pereira, the commission secretary, told UCANEWS. Each diocese will arrange seminars and symposiums to assess life and challenges youth face today, get necessary data and submit a report to the commission, Brother Pereira said.  "We organize programmes for young people at parish, diocese and national level, because young people are a priority for the church. We hope this synod will have a big impact on young people as they would realize more how much the Church cares for them," he said.  "We eagerly expect that youth representatives would accompany a bishop to the synod and get the opportunity to have their say," Br. Pereira added.