Potential of the Youth:
In 1990, I accompanied, as the Spiritual Guide, a group of pilgrims from New York to Medjugorje, the Marian Shrine, in Bosnia (the former Yugoslavia), where our Lady, the Queen of Peace, was appearing to a few young people. When we were interacting with the visionaries, one of them said, as the message of Our Lady, that the youth are like the saplings ready to be transplanted in alien soil to bear more fruits. In any organization or nation, the youth are the hope and promise as well as the challenge of the future. The youth could do tremendous things in the world, provided they become transformed first. You might have heard about Die Sternsinger (Carol Singers started in Tirol in Austria). Children up to the age 18 collect every year about 50 Million USD that is used worldwide for abolishing hunger, establishing justice and peace, solidarity with the poor, preservation of the nature etc – This reminds us of UAP and PAP. Our youngsters are powerful and energetic. When they are well motivated and when they are guided by visionaries, they could easily change the face of the world for the better – Ignatius of Loyola, who had just a handful of companions, is the best example to this.
AICUF History:
AICUF is basically a movement by the students and for the students. The Catholic Young Men Guild (CYMG), started by a group of college students in 1924 under the guidance of Fr P. Carty SJ at St Joseph’s College, Trichy was an organization in the tradition of ‘Catholic Action’. The Rally, the student magazine accompanied the guild from its inception. In 1925, CYMG was then merged with the Malabar Catholic Youth League (MCYL) that was founded by Fr Honore SJ in 1915 and CYMG was renamed as Catholic Young Men Federation (CYMF). By 1937 CYMF grew far and wide in the Southern part of India and got re-christened itself as South Indian Catholic University Federation (SICUF) in 1944 – It was also labelled as Catholic Students Union (CSU). In 1949 the CBCI officially recognized it as the Catholic University Movement for India and in 1952 the National Director, Fr Ceyrac SJ, gave the name AICUF.[1]
The goals of AICUF that have evolved over the years are:
- To help students evolve spirituality that has humanization as its core, through involvement and reflection;
- To motivate students to become involved in studies, research and activities within the university; and
- To enable Christian students to play a prophetic role in their communities through a critical understanding of their faith, drawing inspiration from the Gospels, the Eucharist and their prayer life.[2]
In a nutshell, having education as the basis, AICUF radiates Christian values in a secular world.
Service of AICUF to the Nation:
Being aware of the unequal and unjust society that we are born into, AICUF is determined to create a better world of equality and harmony through developing leadership skills and social awareness. We have seen a few leaders political and social moulded in and through AICUF: Margaret Alva is one of them. She was a cabinet minister in the center and she served as the Governor of Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand. The other one is George Fernandes. He was a trade unionist, statesman, and journalist. He served the nation as the Defense Minister and was a member of Lok Sabha for over 30 years. And there are people who are very much connected with or influenced by AICUF – We could think of Mr Vairamuthu and Mr Thol Thirumavalavan. So many myriads of leaders have emerged from and through AICUF with the spirit of creating a new world of equality and fairness.
Present Situation:
Ideologically AICUF stands for the marginalized but the approach might be different. I remember a couple of decades ago, when the TN Govt tried to clear the slums in front of Loyola, AICUF Jesuits, taking their stand with the evicted, filed a case against the Loyola Jesuit Management. But they shared the same vision of option for the poor and the marginalized. We remember dynamic leadership of Fr Claude and Fr Manu: Fr Claude was instrumental in many AICUFers starting effective NGOs; and Fr Manu was stimulating social consciousness in AICUF students. From such vibrancy, today we could feel only the memories of it. The valiant AICUF seems to give an impression of being reduced to club activities; and from action-propelled, it looks to become discussion-based. The decline might have been gradual. And now as we begin the preparation of year-long centenary celebration, we need to rekindle the original spirit of social awareness, social commitment, and social service that evolves through the UAP, namely, to accompany the young in the creation of a hope-filled future. They are the saplings ready to be transplanted in varying social, religious, and cultural milieu. We need to make each one of them, in the Jesuit spirit, ‘a fire that kindles other fires’ (GC 35/D2/25). AICUF may have many sparks but there is one fire of social justice; AICUF members may author many incredible stories but all are the outcome of one history of AICUF.
Role of the Youth:
The youth today have a double task to accomplish: On the one hand they have to renew, refresh, and maintain the present society with regard to leadership, innovation, and skills related to current technology, education, politics, peace in the globe etc. On the other hand they have to prophetically see the invisible, mystically hear the inaudible, and heroically do the impossible in facing the challenges and obstacles in the world and creating the new world through ushering in ethical values leading to development of persons and nations. In a nuclear-powered world, AICUF should not just remain a nucleus but it should spread her wings. AICUF need not contradict but should complement the Jesuit and Catholic education. The Jesuit education makes one think independently and universally; and AICUF should make the students act responsibly so that the present society could march towards a meaningful future.
We need to realize that the youth are the backbone of the future and voice of the voiceless. They need to rise from the depression of joblessness to the status of entrepreneurs of job-creators. They need to protect whatever good in the society and at the same time they need to build up whatever is better for the future.[3] AICUF needs to renew, reinvigorate, and redesign itself for the need of the nation and the globe. We need to infuse new spirit into new generation. AICUF needs to seek it roots in the past and try to find meaning for existence in the future. This one year of preparation for the celebration for the AICUF centenary may help us identify where we missed the bus and what we could do to make up for what we have lost.
Greetings and Wishes:
The dynamism of AICUF is understanding the need for constant exploration, rediscovery, and recreation to face and address the emerging challenges and opportunities embedded in realities of the university, the Church, and the wider society.
When we lookback one hundred years we have tread, let us walk down the corridor of time collecting experiences, both challenges and successes; and let this fruit gathering gives us the vision for the future and inspire us to set the goal for the future. Then, as Swami Vivekananda said: ‘Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached’ would be our mantra of marching ahead.
Let us wish Fr Benjamine, the National Adviser of AICUF and his team, all the best in making AICUF to be up and running. Loyola would walk as well as run with you. All the best.
Francis P Xavier SJ
26Nov2022
[1]http://www.sjec.edu.in/aicuf.php; https://slideplayer.com/slide/5661612/
[2]https://loyolacollege.ac.in/aicuf.php#:~:text=The%20All%20India%20Catholic%20University,in%2014%20states%20of%20India.
[3] https://medium.com/@hafizahmedshoaib/the-role-of-youth-in-society-b6b067cd003a