Udupi: A two-day residential Think Tank workshop was organised by the Catholic Sabha at the Manasa Rehabilitation and Training Centre at Pamboor, Udupi District on May 20.
The workshop was inaugurated by Elroy Kiran Crasto, Founding President of Catholic Sabha Uupi Pradesh. Alwyn Quadros, President Catholic Sabha Udupi Pradesh presided the programme.
“Every member of the Catholic Sabha must be aware of the needs of the society. They should plan out the activities in such a way that everyone who is in need of help, irrespective of caste, creed and religion must be provided with some service. The Catholic Sabha is for the total well-being of the society,” said Elroy Crasto.
The first session of the workshop was spiritual preparation that was conducted by Fr. Clifford Fernandes of the St. Joseph’s Seminary, Mangaluru. He stressed on the need to change the mindset and serve better. “Service done without selfishness is a true gift to God. When we are healthy and fit, we should go forward to help our needy brethren and sisters. There can be no joy without sacrifice,” he said. The session was followed by adoration of the Holy Eucharist.
The second session of the day was conducted by Walter Cyril Pinto, former president of the Catholic Sabha Mangalore Pradesh (R). He conducted an evaluation of the work of the Catholic Sabha Udupi Pradesh over the last five years and pointed out the vision, mission statement and motivated the participants to meet the priorities at the earliest.
The second day began with a celebration of the Holy Mass by Fr. Herold Periera, at the Holy Cross Church, Pamboor.
The first session of the second day was on keeping important records and documents, by Elroy Crasto, the second session was on ‘Socio-Political Challenges and Our Response’ by Thomas Quadros. In the third session Alwyn Quadros spoke on the vision and action plan for 2018-19.
In the fourth session, a panel discussion was held on the working of the four commissions. The Laity Commission was represented by Fr. Ferdinand Gonsalves, Justice and Peace, by Sharlet Furtado and Elroy Kiran Crasto, and the Inter Religious Dialogue by Fr. Louis D’Sa. The session was conducted by Alphonse D’Costa.
In the next session, Pritish D’Sa, Charted Accountant spoke about maintaining proper accounts and financial records, and Dr. Gerald Pinto enlightened the participants on the different government facilities and methods of availing them.
Jerold Fernandes spoke about the work of the ‘Grama Sevak’ and Wilfred Lobo, Editor of Amcho Sandesh, Padil informed the participants about the present situation of Amcho Sandesh. He also asked the participants to strengthen the paper through articles and by collecting subscriptions.
In the afternoon Valerian R. Fernandes conducted a group discussion and presentation on the targets of 2018-19. Later, these were summed up by the President and Secretary, Alwyn and Maxim.
At the end, an Executive Committee meeting was held. In the meeting, Valerian Fernandes handed over his charge to Alwyn Quadros and Secretary Jacintha Colaco to Maxim D’Souza. In their speech both Valerian and Jacintha thanked all the members for their co-operation in the last 2 years and assured their support in the years to come. Later, different committees were conducted for the year 2018-19 and a list of the Co-opted members was approved. The programme and sessions were composed by Flyvan D’Souza and Mary D’Souza.
Steevan Prakash Lewis and Rosy Quadros expressed their opinions about the programme and expressed their satisfaction for the way the Think Tank workshop was organised. Alwyn Quadros thanked everyone for their support.
Valerian R Fernandes, former President, Jacintha Colaco former secretary, Maxim D’souza present secretary, Henry Menezes, President of Manasa, Jerald Rodrigues Treasurer and Fr. Clifford Fernandes were present on this occasion.
