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Priest Trains Youth To Be Active In Church `Now`

International, Feb. 14. MANDALAY, Myanmar (UCAN) Father Bosco Bo Bo takes issue with the common sentiment that youth ``are the future of the Church.`` The 44-year-old priest, who seeks to empower Catholic youth through education, training and leadership programs, says youth ``should play a role in the Church now, not in the hazy future.``

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For more than 15 years, the Salesian priest has taught, cajoled and entertained Catholic youths with the aim of empowering them to play a more active role in the Church. Young people have responded well to his lectures on personal development, leadership, and management, pepped up with insights from Western ``self-help`` gurus including Stephen Covey, an American author of best-selling books on the ``habits of highly effective people.``
Father Bo Bo was born on Jan. 1, 1963, in Monhla, Shwebo township, in Mandalay archdiocese. As a teenager he joined the Salesians` Nazareth Minor Seminary in Anisakan, Pyin Oo Lwin, 600 kilometers north of Yangon, to continue his studies from the 8th grade. He was ordained a priest in the town in 1991 and held the post of diocesan youth director in Lashio diocese until 1995. He studied teacher training and mass media in India and the Philippines before being put in charge of the youth ministry of Mandalay archdiocese 2004-2005. Over the past several years, he has conducted more than 250 youth training courses in all the dioceses of Myanmar. Father Bo Bo currently serves as rector of the Salesian novitiate and study house in Anisakan, Mandalay archdiocese, and continues to conduct courses to empower youth. UCA News interviewed him recently. The interview follows:

What would you say are the biggest challenges for Catholic youth in Myanmar?
I would say ``education`` and ``critical approach.`` The illiterate of this century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. We should engage in a community reflection among ourselves on the communitarian nature of apostolate in the Church and in the congregation, on social responsibility in the work of education, on the animating role of authority, and on the present-day trend toward an ever greater participation of everyone at all levels of the Church and society.

Does the modern world distract youth from being interested in the Church?
These are not just problems, they are challenges for all of us. We teach them about the teaching of the Church, but the messages they receive contradict what we are teaching. The superior man thinks always of virtue, whereas the common man thinks only of comfort. Before any concrete steps are taken there must be a ``strategic plan`` and, behind it, ``action plans`` and ``backup plans.`` Our view of the future is based on ``feasibility studies`` and the plans we control.

Are Catholic youth losing interest in the Church? Modern trends including greater participation of the laity in the Church in general are now finding their way to Myanmar. The Church here is attaching more importance to the work done by laypeople. There is a growing awareness of the saving role of the laity and more chances and opportunities are now being offered to them. Whatever be the category of the young with whom we work, we are realizing more and more today that our young people have to discover the meaning of their life. They need to be steeped in proper values. They have to develop a strong sense of social concern, especially because of the great poverty surrounding them. And religion must become so meaningful and central in their lives that it gives them a vision and courage for all that they do in society.

Is the Church doing anything to keep youth interested?
We try to help the youth stand on their own feet, to make the conversion from ``received faith`` to ``owned faith.`` An important evolution in terms of conversion takes place as young people pass through different stages. In ``owned faith,`` young people take on responsibility for their own beliefs, actions and lifestyle. This is a significant change from the ``received faith`` that depended on the authority of the community. ``Going along with the crowd`` is no longer ``in.`` It is no longer possible to hide in the group. The young person needs to look Jesus in the face and give a personal response to his invitation: ``Come, follow me.``

What programs do you run to help develop Catholic youth?
Conditions for holistic formation need to be created as young people pass through different stages of faith development and critical awareness. A balance is sought between different dimensions of the young person`s life: self-knowledge, integration, social formation, spiritual and theological formation, leadership skills and planning. These we offer, as a team, to youth and adults of various dioceses in Myanmar. If we combine reason with religion and kindness, and knowledge of the different methods of teaching, we can make learning effective.

How do you deal with difficult or badly behaved youth?
There are challenges dealing with difficult youth but they are manageable. Concern and action for justice is a characteristic of mature faith. Unjust structures shape people`s thinking and values and create poverty and marginalization. Action must be preceded by an analysis of cause. Young people who pass to this stage of faith development have overcome the separation between faith and life. This stage can be the most critical stage, the most difficult, the most complex. I frequently prod youths to think seriously by asking the question, ``Why?`` I am interested in them and their problems, so they ask me questions openly and request advice from me.

Do Catholic youths face discrimination in this predominantly Buddhist country?
The vast majority of the population in Myanmar is made of youths. Buddhism has by far the most adherents in this country, so most of the youths belong to this religion. There is a semblance of peace and freedom in religion.

What would you say is memorable for you in working with youth?
``Why am I afraid to tell who I am?`` This can understandably be part of the experience of many people as human beings. The answer may be just the opposite [of what one might think]: ``Because I do not know how great I am.`` The realization of how great I am, as a Christian, does bring deep joy and unlimited strength. ``It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me`` [Saint Paul`s Letter to the Galatians, 2:20]. We are born and live among non-Christians and we follow the non-Christians` pattern of life and ideals. A Christian will never be fully satisfied only with earthly things, only with earthly values. The call to be a Christian, the call to be an apostle, is a call to ``blessedness.`` Every Christian is really a blessed one, because he has been called, chosen and loved by God himself. All these sentiments are felt by our youths, with renewed vigor and zest for the life ahead of them. www.ucanews.com

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