On 9th July 2017, Santhom Mission India inaugurated its new divine initiative to build up and structure the Youth together in Christ, named Santhom Youth Movement- Syro Malabar Youth Movement (SMYM), at St. Alphonsa Syro Malabar Church, Kukatpally in Hyderabad in the glorious presence of His Excellency Raphael Thattil, Auxiliary Bishop of Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Thrissur and the chief guest for the event Mr. Antony Joseph, Project manager (DRD) in Hyderabad. An estimated number of around 2000 people were gathered for the inauguration including priests.
After the morning mass in St. Alphonsa Church, the faithful witnessed a new colorful way of inaugural function, which began with a vibrant bike rally of youth and there after His Grace Bishop Raphael Thattil joyfully released a pigeon to the sky prompting “Awake” followed by the releasing of 7 colors of wonderful balloons to signify the 7 regional centers of SMYM in India. His Excellency Bishop Raphael Thattil reminded and encouraged the faithful that “Youth of the Church are the next generation and the Church are built for them, so they are the ones who need to take care of it.”
The slogan of SMYM is “Awake- Arise-Alive”, that itself portrays the motto behind the Movement to boost and encourage the Youth of the Church to be more active by helping them to grow. The Director of SMYM is Fr. Ansilo Elanjiparambil and Mr. Lijo Anto is the President while Mr. Shaun Sebastian is the Deputy President of the Movement.
