Asian Youth Day (AYD) is an international

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

event organized by the

Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences The Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) is an association of episcopal conferences of Catholic Church in South, Southeast, East and Central Asia. The federation fosters solidarity and joint responsibility for the welfare of the Church a ...

, Office of Laity & Family, Youth Desk and the host country. The event, which is held every three years, brings together Catholic youths from all over Asia. The event is similar to

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...

. The week long gathering enables Asian youth to experience the Gospel with others of different cultures and how the modern world celebrates the Gospel, and how it applies to current issues like

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

, leadership among its youth. The week festivities include prayer, forums, and workshops. The event is used to enrich, inspire, and renew the spiritual lives of Catholic youth of Asia.

History

In 1991, during the fifth World Youth Day in Czestochowa,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, delegates from numerous Asian countries expressed their desire to create a network and various channels of their own, to inspire the Catholic youth on the Asian continent. In 1993, a youth consultation conference was held in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. Participating youth representatives at the conference suggested that a youth working group be formed as a parish-based subsidiary of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in an effort to gather support for youth leaders within the organization and to enhance mutual cooperation and links among youth parish groups from Asian countries. The Youth Desk was officially established in 1994. Since its opening, the team has successfully organized a series of activities for Asian youths and youth leaders, including the Asian Youth Gathering during the World Youth Day, Asian Youth Ministers’ Meeting and Asian Youth Day.

References

{{Catholic Youth Ministry Catholic youth organizations Youth events Christian festivals and holy days

History

See also

References