CCI has launched a new website for its Vatican 2 +50  program to mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and to study the contribution of Cardijn to the Council.

Focusing on the theme "Social Commitment of the Church," the three year campaign will launch in October 2015 and will conclude in 2015. It follows on from the successful Vatican 2 +40 program sponsored by CCI in 2002.

The three year programme will focus on increased lay participation in the Church, encouraging social actions and a clear cut policy on social commitment of the Church.

Various events, conferences and campaigns spread over in different countries around the world will be organised during the 3 year period to study the ground reality, evaluate the decisions of Vatican II and to call for the attention of the Church.

Read more details at: www.vatican2plus50.com

Thailand's lèse majeste laws have been "used as a repressive tool to deprive the right to freedom of expression," writes imprisoned labour activist Somyot Pruksakasemsuk.

"In addition, those charged with violating the law are mostly denied bails, an act of which is in breach of international human rights standards. As a political prisoner, the incarceration deprives me of all my rights and liberties."

Here is Somyot's latest letter written from the Bangkok Remand Prison.

Bangkok Remand Prison
33 Ngamwongwan Rd., Lay Yao
Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900
Email : b_remand@hotmail.com
From : Somyot Pruksakasemsuk

20 August 2011

To whom it may concern,
I have been detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison since April 30, 2011 for violating Section 112 of the Penal Code.

I wish to express my gratitude to those concerned both internationally as well as domestically regarding their demand upon the Thai government to release political prisoners.

For more than twenty years, I have been involved in the struggle of Thai workers to ensure that they live with dignity and are free from poverty.

Some aspects that I have helped to bring to them have been the right to 90 days maternity leave, the right to work in a safe working environment (1996), social security act (1990). I have also helped with labour issues including employment compensation as well as unemployment benefit (2003).

The above mentioned achievements have been a result of the Thai labour movement. It is in my experience that these rights emerge only from a democratic process forth by elections. Military government in the past have always violated workers rights and freedoms.

One instance of this is that during the coup of 23 February 1991, the labour leader, Thanong Pho-aan was abducted and made disappeared.

State enterprise trade unions were abolished and banned, as well as the collective bargaining agreement of the private sector deteriorated.

During the coup of 19 September 2006, the military government amended the labour protection law to legitimize contract labour employment and freeze minimum wages.

After the 2006 coup, I began to participate in the pro-democracy movement against movement behind the coup d’état and military junta.

I wanted to publish a magazine that strongly criticized the coup. People rallied to form the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), or red shirt movement, which organized demonstrations and rallies, until the Aphisit government used military force to suppress them in May 2010, 91 individuals lost their lives. During this period my magazine was also shut down, and I was arrested and detained at military camp though I have not committed an offence for 21 days.

Upon my release, I founded the ‘Red Power’ magazine that strongly criticized the government and its policies. One of the key issues was the government promising to increase minimum wage to 250 Baht but not being able deliver the promise.

Red Power also seeks to investigate incidents behind and the causes of the death of the 91 deaths and other causalities. Nevertheless, its printing house was shut down in October 2010. To continue the printing of Red Power, we had to move our base to Cambodia.

After the 19 September 2006 coup, a number of activists, journalists and red shirt sympathizers were rounded up and put in jail invoking the lèse majesté law.

Foreign journalists were not allowed to exercise their right to freedom of expression and investigative journalism. Individuals detained pending the trials were subject to torture and denied bails depriving their right to self-defence.

Three labour activists were accused on violating lèse majesté law. Mr. Giles Ungpakorn and his wife were forced to live in exile in the UK; Junya Yimprasert, director of Thai Labour Campaign is unable to return to Thailand; Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, former director of Centre for Labour Information Service and Training, is currently being detained without bail under lèse majesté.

The majority of the Thai population are indoctrinated to believe in “democracy with the King as Head of State” and any individual expressing different views or deemed a threat to the institution are treated as enemies of the state.

Red Power is the only platform to enable individuals to express their thoughts and belief among like minded individuals. It was because of this that I was arrested and remanded under lèse majesté.

The law has been used as a repressive tool to deprive the right to freedom of expression. In addition, those charged with violating the law are mostly denied bails, an act of which is in breach of international human rights standards.

As a political prisoner, the incarceration deprives me of all my rights and liberties. I find my life being wretched to merely “a domesticated animal in a cage”. The physical and mental traumas hurt me gravely. Many fellow political prisoners like me have unnecessarily lost their family life and career.

I have been informed by visitors that human rights activists and unionists worldwide have demanded the Royal Thai Government release all political prisoners. Your movement means much to Thai people. It reflects how international community strives to achieve the common goal of forging a peaceful society in which everyone is genuinely entitled to the right to equality, freedom and democracy.

I fervently believe in the collective power and solidarity of all labour unions and justice concerned people. Your struggle to demand the release of all political prisoners in Thailand is an initial step toward democratization.

In solidarity,

Somyot Pruksakasemsuk

Dear Friends, Already a month has passed since our General Assembly and 10th Anniversary in Bangkok.

I hope that we can build on the legacy that Ruben left us in his role as convenor and also the team before him, particularly Rungrote whom you met in Bangkok and "Jim" Rungtip Imrunguang who was a key member of our first CCI or CLC team as it was then. It is really a pity that she was unable to join us as she was in Laos for another conference during our event.

Now I guess we are all trying to see best how we can work to implement the plans that we made in Bangkok.

One of the things that we decided was to launch a newsletter and so I have compiled this bulletin to share with you some of what has been happening.

Developments in CCI

Even before he returned to Zambia, Clement Katongo was making plans to launch an event in Africa, i.e. Zambia to mark the 50th anniversary of Vatican II. If everything goes to plan, this would be held in late 2012. We look forward to hearing of more plans.

From Sri Lanka, Fr Reid has already held a meeting on 13 August to launch a Sri Lankan chapter of CCI with about 8 people present and plans for regular monthly meetings.

From Australia, Kevin has been in contact with Cardinal Tom Williams, retired archbishop of Wellington, New Zealand, who gave a speech to 300 former YCW and YCS members from NZ at a 1996 event. Hopefully, we will soon be in contact with some of those people.

From India, we have heard that the National Team met last week. Paul and Rebecca Sinappan are in fact on their way to India today for a personal visit and will meet with Ruben and other CCI leaders there.

From the Philippines, Juanito has informed us of plans to establish a Treasurer's Team to manage the finances. The Manila CCI group has also fixed a meeting for 11 September.

So already lots of things are starting to happen!

CCI Websites

Meanwhile, I have been working here in Kuala Lumpur, mostly on developing the CCI websites.

News

www.cardijn.info: This is our news website, publishing news item relating not only to CCI but to all the Cardijn movements and dealing also with lay apostolate, worker issues, etc. I have updated much of the background information and started to reorganise the site to fit in better with our needs.

www.cardijn.fr: This is our newsite in French which is similar to www.cardijn.info

Community

www.cardijncommunity.org: This website focuses on our own CCI organisation, activities etc. I have already posted up an initial online draft report of our General Assembly. There is still material to be added - and above all photos - please let me know if you have photos that we can add. Also, please let me know of any other suggestions that you have for content.

Campaigns

www.vatican2plus50.com: This also is a brand new website on which I have started as a resource centre for our 50th anniversary of Vatican II project. As you can see, there are already quite a number of resources available there. Please send in suggestions for more development.

www.newpentecost.com: This is our existing website for our annual New Pentecost activities which have been held each year since 2005 in various countries - sometimes big, sometimes small. This was a follow up to our original Vatican 2 + 40 program in 2002 to mark the 40th anniversary of Vatican II.

Resources

www.josephcardijn.com: This is our website for publishing documents by and concerning the life of Joseph Cardijn.

www.josephcardijn.fr hosts the Cardijn documents in the original French.

https://sites.google.com/a/cardijn.info/cardijn-resources/: This is the Cardijn Resources website for other Cardijn related resources. This will be revamped shortly, I hope.

As you will also see the websites are all linked to each other thru the top menu bar on each site.

Feedback

Already the sites are attracting over 1000 visits per month and hopefully this will grow as people discover the range of resources that are available.

Only this week I had a message from Dr Bernard D'Sami, CCI member from India, and also professor of history at Loyola College, Chennai: "You have really opened the floodgates of Cardijn's resources. These are the primary sources to study and understand Cardijn and his times and work. Somehow it should reach at least some academics who are connected in someway or other with Cardijn's movement, So that some serious research could be undertaken by some serious social science researchers. More and more young men and women should be exposed to these treasures. I will certainly make use of these resources to involve some to undertake research based on the original documents and materials relating to the life and work of the Cardijn. Great work done! Congratulations."

This is a really great encouragement and I hope we can keep going.

World Youth Day

You would have also noticed that Sunday was World Youth Day in Spain with Pope Benedict. And I was able to publish online the Marguerite Fievez and Jacques Meert biography of Cardijn as a kind of contribution for World Youth Day:

http://www.josephcardijn.com/latest-news/readcardijnsbiographyonline-1

It is also interesting to note that the next World Youth Day will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2013 - only two years away. Some of you will know that Cardijn had a tremendous influence in Brazil through the YCW, YCS, University YCS, and other Catholic Action movements. Wouldn't it be great if we could find a way to make sure that Cardijn is on the agenda for World Youth Day Brazil?

Lots of work to do!

Anyway, there's lots of work to do! But let's start simply!

All the best
Stefan Gigacz
CCI President/Convenor
Foundation Day of the International YCW

Over forty participants from eleven countries met in Bangkok, Thailand from 23-25 July 2011 for the CCI 3rd General Assembly.

The event began with a public forum on Sustainable Development for Peace with former IYCS/IMCS and ICMICA chaplain, Father Antoine Sondag as keynote speaker.

Bishop Pibul Visitnondachai of Nakhon Sawan, president of the Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees (COERR) and National Catholic Commission for Migration (NCCM) celebrated Mass with partcipants on Saturday 23 July to mark the 10th anniversary of the foundation of CCI and the 44th anniversary of the death of Cardijn on 24 July 1967.

The General Assembly then began with a study session on "My community, my country" followed by a session analysing current world realities.

This was followed by a series of life testimonies from various participants including Paul Sinappan from Malaysia and Geethani Peries from Sri Lanka, who is currently president of the International YCW.

New team elected

The General Assembly concluded with the election of a new team including Stefan Gigacz as President/Convenor, Manasa Janaki and Patrick Vishal Fernandes sharing the role of secretary, Juanito Penequito as treasurer, Fr Reid Shelton Fernando and V. Susairaj as collaborators.

Clement Katongo will act as extension officer for Africa while Kevin Vaughan will play the same role for the Pacific.

Plan of Action

The Assembly also adopted an action plan focusing on several key elements:

a) Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Vatican II

b) Marking the centenary of the first YCW group founded by Cardijn at Laeken, Belgiun in 1912.

c) Publishing and translating the writings of Joseph Cardijn

d) Developing training resources on See - Judge - Act, Review of Life, etc.

The Assembly also witnessed the launch of the publication, Review of Life... a way of life, Training Module on See - Judge - Act Method, produced by CCI India on behalf of Cardijn Media.

Incoming president Stefan Gigacz closed the Assembly thanking outgoing convenor Mr MJ Ruben for his outstanding work and commitment over the past five years. He also thanked Mr Rungrote Tangsurakit and Ms Rungtip Imrungruang from the original CCI foundation team in 2001.

Read more at: http://www.cardijncommunity.org/general-assembly-2011

Parents and relatives of a Sri Lanka priest and a layman who disappeared five years ago amid fighting between security forces and the Tamil Tigers have urged the government to seek justice for the clergyman.

The call came during a Mass last weekend for Father Thiruchchelvan Nihal Jim Brown and Wenceslaus Vimalathas, both of whom have been missing since August 20, 2006, ucanews.com reports.

The two men were last seen on a motorbike at a checkpoint in Allaipiddy, an area that at the time was tightly controlled by security forces.

Nearly three decades of civil war ended in 2009 when government forces defeated the Tamil Tigers. An estimated 100,000 lives were lost during the conflict, including six priests and several church workers.

Ruki Fernando, a representative of the Law and Society Trust and a CCI member, remembered Fr. Jim as a young priest who selflessly devoted himself to the needs of his parishioners.

Fr. Jim had taken up a new post as parish priest at St. Philip Neri Church in Allaipiddy, about 300 kilometers north of Colombo, only 10 days before his disappearance, he told ucanews.com

The priest had offered refuge to local residents during a night of heavy shelling on August 12, 2006. More than 20 people were killed that night and many more sustained injuries though Fr. Jim escaped unharmed.

“Will we ever know what happened to him and thousands of others who have disappeared? And will those responsible ever be identified and brought to justice?” he asked?

“Could we even have reconciliation within the Catholic Church? What does reconciliation mean to the families and friends of Fr. Jim and Vimalathas and countless other families of disappeared people?”

SOURCE

Laymen seek justice for missing priest (ucanews.com)

Today is World Youth Day 2011. Over one million young people from around the world are gathered on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain to celebrate the event with Pope Benedict XV.

It's a great day also to launch the online publication of the Marguerite Fievez and Jacques Meert biography of Joseph Cardijn.

First published in French in 1969, the English translation by the late Fr Edward Mitchinson came off the presses in 1974. The biography has thus been effectively out of print for the last 30 years or so.

In recent years, it has become possible occasionally to find a second hand copy at an online bookshop.

However, now we are proud to again make available this important biography to the whole English speaking world.

With Fernand Tonnet and Paul Garcet, Jacques Meert was one of the famous "founder trio" of the YCW. He worked with Cardijn from the age of 18.

Marguerite Fievez became a YCW leader in the 1930s, and from 1945 was effectively the first secretary-general of the IYCW, a post she held until 1957 when the first official International Council was held in Rome.

From 1957, she became Cardijn's personal assistant until his death in 1967 after which she devoted the next 20 years of her life to compiling his personal archives which are now held in the Royal Archives of Belgium. From then on until her death in 2000, she worked on the archiving of the records of the JOC in Belgium as well as those of the IYCW.

Thus this biography of Cardijn is the personal record of two people who worked side by side with Cardijn from 1919 until his passing in 1967.

Moreover, it is also a scientifically written history since Marguerite and Jacques chose to work with the historian Professor Roger Aubert  from the Catholic University of Louvain in compiling their history.

As the authors say in the introduction, it is only the "first biography" of Cardijn and much more remains to be rewritten.

Nevertheless, it is also an irreplaceable almost eye-witness account of his life.

Read it here.