ABOUT US

   

 Indian Catholic Youth Movement

The Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM) is the largest Premier Catholic youth movement in India. It is spread across 686 districts in India. The ICYM functions through 14 Regions & 132 Dioceses. It is an organisation for the Catholic youth from the Latin rite of the Christian community across India. The patron saint of Indian Catholic Youth Movement is St. Gonsalo Garcia.  

History

The dreams and aspirations of thousands of youth, animators, directors and bishops turned into a reality when Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) had approved ICYM as a National Movement for the youth on 14 September 1999.
In 2017, following the bifurcation of the three rites in India (Latin, Syro-malabar, Syro-malankara) the ICYM was shifted and adopted by the CCBI (Conference of Catholic Bishops of India), as the National Youth Movement of the Latin Catholic Youth in India. It now stands as the official youth movement of the National Youth Commission of CCBI.

Patron Saint

The patron of ICYM is St. Gonsalo Garcia, a Portuguese Indian who was born in the western coastal town of Vasai and died as a martyr in Japan and is venerated as a saint, one of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan so venerated. Garcia was beatified in 1627 by Pope Urban VIII and canonised as a saint by Pope Pius XI on 8 June 1862.  

History of Bagdogra Diocese:

Area : 1,110 sq.km ; Total Population: 9,35,000 
Catholics :  59,034
Languages spoken : Hindi, Bengali, Oraon, Sadri, Santali, Nepali, English. 

In the early part of the twentieth century, when the Tea Gardens in the foothills of Darjeeling required  labourers, many Adivasis from Chotanagpur migrated to the Terai Plains and gradually settled down there. The Jesuit Fathers from St. Mary’s College, Kurseong, looked after the spiritual needs of the Adivasi Catholics, quite regularly. The first Station was established at Gayaganga in 1933 by Fr. A Bossaerts, SJ. The area called the “Terai” (Siliguri sub-division and part of Kurseong sub-division in the district of Darjeeling) was part of the Diocese of Darjeeling which was established in 1962. As the number of Catholics and local vocations increased, and for better care of the Faithful, Pope John Paul II divided the Diocese of Darjeeling, and thus the Diocese of Bagdogra was created on 14th June 1997, with Bishop Thomas D’Souza as its first Bishop. On 12th March 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Thomas D’Souza as Co-adjutor Archbishop of Calcutta, appointing him at the same time Apostolic Administrator of Bagdogra.
After a wait of 4 years on April 08, 2015, Pope Francis appointed Msgr. Vincent Aind as its second Bishop.