Tellicherry: Sijo Ambattu, from the Archdiocese of Tellicherry has been elected as the Asian President of FIMCAP youth group, affiliated to the Vatican. He represented the CBCI’s Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM) in the recently concluded General Assembly in Belgium. Presently, he is the legal spokesperson of the Syro Malabar Church and the pastoral council member of the Archdiocese of Tellicherry.
Earlier, he has been the National President of ICYM, Founder of SMYM, General Secretary of the KCYM and the President of the Tellicherry Archdiocese. The election was conducted in the presence of representatives of more than 30 countries. He stated that the FIMCAP is trying its best to bring forth the Indian Youth community to the international level through various movements of its own.
Ambattu is the member of Infant Jesus Church, Kanjangad.
Fédération Internationale des Mouvements Catholiques d’Action Paroissiale (French for ‘International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements’), FIMCAP is the parent organisation of all youth movements. It was instituted in 1962 and now spans with a total membership of more than 50 member organisations. It is recognised as the official Catholic Organisation by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. General Body Directors are elected once every three years. Every Continent is chaired by two presidents. The Co- Prez to Ambattu is Jerryl Gabriel from the Philippines.
The FIMCAP works on the basis of certain themes for each tenure i.e, the movement conducts activities and campaigns on the basis of certain themes; and for this term, the theme chosen by the General Body is, “The Value of Play”. The FIMCAP states, “Playing is one of the rights described in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), more specifically in article 31 of this Convention, which will be the starting point for our General Assembly- That every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.”
(Excerpts from Mr. Sijo Ambattu)
