Young Catholics launch movement against land-grabbing for bio-fuel

(July 28, 2010) More than 10,000 Catholics -- including 30 international delegates -- took part in a rally launching a global campaign against land-grabbing to produce bio-fuel. As dancers performed Kerala's traditional ethnic dances at the July 24 rally, elderly women could be seen holding colourful umbrellas with placards declaring, "Stop land-grabbing, this soil is our future." The campaign is spearheaded by the International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth, which works with young people of age between 12and 30 on four continents. Syro-Malabar Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, secretary-general of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council, congratulated the Catholic youth movement for taking the lead to raise awareness against land-grabbing and food security. "The food we eat is no more the beautiful creation of God. These Food items are highly toxic due to the greed for profits. We need to make the public aware of all these concerns," said Archbishop Thazhath. George Dixon Fernandez, president of the international rural youth movement, said in a statement from the movement's headquarters in Brussels: "Agriculture has no more culture attached to it. It has been reduced to agro-industry, and business houses are grabbing agricultural lands to promote their business."