Youths urged to battle corruption

(October 14, 2010) Church and political leaders in India have called on young Catholics to fight for a corruption-free society. “Stay away from corruption and fight it, then you can eradicate poverty from society,” Meghalaya state Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary told some 2,000 young Catholic at the opening of the Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM) national convention on October 14. The governor also urged the youth to shun violence and imbibe good values for a peaceful society. Participants represented 152 of India’s 164 dioceses at the convention held at the Meghalaya capital of Shillong in north-eastern India. The convention, with its theme, Live the Word, Liberate the World, will seek ways to eradicate poverty, save the environment and foster a culture of peace. Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal, chairperson of the Indian bishops’ youth commission, called on the youth to transform society. “The commission decided to hold the triennial event in a north-eastern town as part of the Church’s efforts towards national integration,” he said. According to him, the unrest in north-eastern India would disappear if its people could be properly integrated with the national mainstream. “The northeast youth should not have the feeling that they are alienated. They are a part of India,” he said, adding that some of them have gone astray because of lack of opportunities in life. Tribal conflict, secessionism, substance abuse and armed militancy currently plague India’s northeast.