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A DESCRIPTION; DEFINITION.

AND SUGGESTED CONSTITUTION

FOR A PARISH YOUTH COUNCIL



Glossary of Terms

YOUTH BOARD—A youth board is composed of adult men
and women representing adult organizations sponsoring
youth work.

SUGGESTED PATTERN—It is laboring the obvious to in-
sist that the Youth Department cannot impose a rigid
organizational pattern on any youth group. The Ordin-
ary of a diocese alone possesses that right.

APPROVED PLAN—The approval given the plans herein
outlined by the Bishops implies nothing other than that

they are good and workable. It does not mean that even
essential variants may not be introduced when respon-
sible local

f

ecclesiastical authorities deem it proper.

YOUTH COUNCIL—A council embraces all the youth of the
individual groups affiliated with the council.

DELEGATES—The parish youth council functions through
delegates. Each constitutent youth group comprising the
parish youth council elects two delegates to the parish

youth council.

DEANERY YOUTH COUNCIL
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE—A deanery youth council em-

braces all the youth of the constituent affiliated groups.

Obviously such an enormous number could not transact
affairs efficiently. Therefore the deanery youth council

functions through an executive committee comprised

of two young men and two young women from each
parish youth council. It is advisable to require a mini-

mum age of 18 for those selected by the parish youth
council as their representatives on the executive board

of the deanery council.

DIOCESAN YOUTH COUNCIL
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE—A diocesan youth council em-

braces all the youth of the constituent affiliated groups.

Obviously such an enormous number could not transact
affairs efficiently. Therefore the diocesan youth council

functions through an executive committeee comprised of

two young men and two young women from each dean-
ery council. It is advisable to require a minimum age of
20 for those selected by the deanery council as their
representatives on the executive committee of the dioces-

an youth council.

OFFICERS—Each executive committee selects a President,
Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer from its own
membership. The parish youth council does the same
from the personnel of its delegates.



WHAT IS YOUR PARISH
CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL?
I

—

Definition

A Parish Catholic Youth Council is a federation
of the approved Catholic youth groups within a

parish. It is a coordinating device whose primary

purpose is to unify and strengthen youth’s forces

within the parish. It is not a separate or competitive

organization designed to destroy or absorb existing

parish youth organizations.

A parish youth council, therefore, makes no
provision for individual membership. The only way

in which a young man or lady can secure member-

ship in the youth council of his or her parish is by

joining a parish youth group that is affiliated with

the council.

The objective of the parish youth council is to

provide a medium of collaboration with the youth

of other parishes in the diocese; to supplement by

advice, suggestions, and cooperative projects, the

existing parish youth groups. This means that these

groups continue to use other services; for example,

a Sodality will continue using its own program; a

Scout troop continues the use of the scouting pro-

gram, etc. There are certain projects however on

which all the youth of a parish may profitably col-

laborate.

II

—

Sphere of Activities

The activities of Parish Catholic Youth Coun-

cils will by necessity differ from each other because

the circumstances and needs of each parish differ.

Here are a few useful fields for federated youth

activity

:

1) Membership campaign: The parish youth



2 WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL?

council can help all its constituent organiza-

tions secure new members. In most parishes

the majority of the youth belong to no par-

ticular youth group. The youth council may

be used to inform youth, parents and others

of existing organizations.

2) Providing apt program materials: The ex-

change of experiences among the leaders of

the various parochial youth groups will sug-

gest certain courses of action on common

problems. The youth council can arrange

for the provision of facilities needed by all

groups—a common library, a reading room,
a pamphlet rack, movie projector, etc.

3) Organizing youth forums: There are many

problems of interest to all youth. The coun-

cil provides an ideal agency for conducting

open forums, conferences, and discussion

clubs for the youth on these questions.

4) Analysing and evaluating non-Catholic

youth movements, organizations and agen-

cies functioning within the parish bound-

aries: This scrutiny should include not only

local organizations but the branch agencies

of state or nation-wide youth organizations

as well. Catholic youth are attracted to the

YMCA, YWCA, Allied Youth Posts, and

many other of the more than 400 national

non-governmental youth or youth-servicing

agencies in the U- S. today. Many of these

organizations are laudable; but many are

actively propagating a social philosophy

hostile to Christ. The critical evaluation of

the local youth agencies would not only be

of assistance to pastors but would furnish



WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL? 3

excellent practical training for the youth

apostolate.

5) Acting as the representative of all the youth

of the parish: There are public or civic

occasions, such for example as a general

campaign for decent literature, clean mo-

vies, better community recreational facili-

ties for youth, when the youth council will

be most useful.

6)

'Publishing a special youth bulletin or youth

articles in the parish magazine : The special

bulletins of particular youth groups, the

Sodality for example, reach only their own

membership; produced on a national scale

they cannot very well take into account the

peculiarities of each parish. The parish bul-

letin can particularize and adapt such ma-

terials as well as open a medium of com-

munication between all the youth of the

parish and all the parishioners.

III. Leadership Training

The Catholic youth apostolate envisions the for-

mation or education of youth apostles of youth;

leadership training in the various phases of youtl

activities is therefore of its very essence. Hers

again the youth council lends itself readily to tie

accomplishment of specific youth-training objective.

1) Religious life: corporate acts of worship,

retreats, holy hours and other religious ac-

tivities in which it would be desirable to

have all the youth of a parish participite

can be fostered by the youth council. Tins

for example the youth council could aid lie

liturgical movement in a parish by securng



4 WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL?

inexpensive Missals, sponsoring a common

course on the liturgy, perhaps even learning

the simpler Gregorian chants, how to par-

ticipate in a “Missa recitata” etc.

2) Family education: the decay of Christian

family life in modern society is self-evident

;

the need for the clear exposition of the

Christian ideal is likewise apparent. And it

is youth and not age that needs this repre-

sentation of a great ideal. Great practical

good can be achieved by having all the youth

of the parish sponsor a series of lectures

and discussions on the Christian family.

3) Citizenship training: In our materialistic

age the idea of the totalitarian state

flourishes because men have forgotten the

nature of man. Catholic doctrine on the

nature and function of the state must be

understood by youth if the fallacy of the

totalitarian state is to be seen. Democracy

is an idle word if the inherent dignity of

human nature due to man’s immortal soul

and its redemption by Christ is not explicit-

ly understood.

4) Cultural training: In this field the parish

council can be of great assistance by coop-

eratively planning study and reading mater-

ials, lectures, movies, etc.

5) Vocational guidance and training: It is not

the primary function of Catholic youth

groups to serve as vocational guidance agen-

cies; yet the far-reaching maladjustment of

our economic life which denies gainful em-

ployment to more than a third of American

youth for a period of almost three years



WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL? 5

after leaving school makes it imperative

that we do all in our power to equip youth

to recognize and use opportunity when it

presents itself, and even to seek it out. All

the youth of the parish can collaborate on

this subject.

6) Recreation: Each constituent unit of the

parish council will organize its own recrea-

tional program; the council can be of

assistance, however, by setting up certain

minimum standards; the conditions of in-

tra-parochial competition in the fields of

sports, dramatics, music, etc. The couicil

can also act as the intermediary with olher

parishes in setting up standards and ton-

ditions of competition in inter-paro<hial

contests in the deanery or diocese.

7) Catholic Action: Catholic youth groups in

the Church fulfill their highest destinyonly

when they become active forces in the :pos-

tolate of youth to youth. The preserc de-

plorable and irresponsible use of theterm

Catholic Action to justify things thi are

not Catholic Action can best be corrected by

the thorough education of youth in th pre-

cise meaning and scope of the lay apojtolate

in the Church. In this field the youth ouncil

can render invaluable service by aicjng its

constituent members to understand fiearly

their respective roles and possibilities this

great modern renaissance of CathoUism.

The promotion of activities such as thee men-

tioned above and others similar may be entrsted by

the parish youth council to specific commissions,

which automatically expire when their objeaves are



6 WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL?

achieved. It should be clearly understood that such

commissions function for and through the particular

parish youth groups which are the real cells in

which Catholic youth work is carried on.

IV : Suggested Constitution of the Parish Youth

Council

ARTICLE I : NAME

Section 1: The title of this parochial federation

Nime shall be the Parish Youth Council of

Saint Parish.

ARTICLE II: Nature and Purpose

Se:tion 1: The Parish Youth Council is a federa-

Nsture tion of all the approved youth groups

in the parish regardless of their labels

and particular objectives.

It respects the autonomy of the various

parish youth organizations.. These

groups maintain their traditional or-

ganizational set-up and carry out their

particular program in keeping with

their special objectives.

Secton 2: The Parish Youth Council serves the

Purpse following purpose

:

a. To unite in a federation all the

Catholic youth groups working in a

parish, in order to promote and inten-

sify parish spirit

;

b. To coordinate activities and to con-

duct common projects; to assist,

strengthen and coordinate the work of

the diocesan youth groups so that they

may more effectively promote the

spiritual and material welfare of their

members

;



WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL? 7

c. To assist the various youth groups

affiliated with the Parish Youth Council

by exchanging experiences, and by sug-

gesting programs and material in the

field of Catholic youth work;

d. To represent all the Catholic youth

of the parish when it is necessary for

them to function on the basis of a uni-

ted front. This representation might

be strictly on a parish basis or it may be

on a city-wide or community basis. It

may also be on an inter-parish basis,

both on the deanery and the diocesan

levels. There are occasions when Cath-

olic youth has a right and a duty to ex-

press its views collectively;

e. To encourage its members to par-

ticipate in the work of Catholic Actbn

in the parish.
I

ARTICLE III: Relationship to Diocesan Yoith

Council

The Parish Youth Council is the parish

unit of the Diocesan Youth Council. It

furnishes the liaison both as regardsthe

Deanery Youth Council set-up and the

Diocesan Youth Council setup.

Through the Parish Youth Council the

organized youth of the parish areoffi-

cially represented in the Deaneryjand

Diocesan Youth Council.

ARTICLE IV : Membership

Section 1: The constituent units of the Eirish

Constituent Youth Council are the approved jrirish

Units youth groups or organizations.



CHART SUGGESTING ORGANIZATION, PROGRAM All

1

ORDINARY c

DIOCESAN Y

fzzzz DIOCESAN CENTRAL OFFIC
agencies in the Pieces.

(Staffed as Reason a

ORGANIZES

DIOCESAN 1

DEANERY Y

PARISH YC

PARISH V

/

//
/ /

[|

YOUTH OF



SPONSORSHIP OF A DIOCESAN YOUTH AP05T0LATE

the DIOCESE

TH DIRECTOR

or DIOCESAN YOUTH
stances allow

)

BUREAU
Contacts %uth Bureau of

Al C IVC andre/ays mater/als

to Deaner/es antl Parishes

ID DEVELOPS TRAINS LAY ADULT MEMBERS

JTH COUNCIL

ITH COUNCIL

ffl COUNCIL

TH GROUPS

HE PARISH

ADVISORY BOARDS

/ Y_
Diocesan Deanery Parish

CLERGY

Diocesan

Youth

Direc tor

Deanery
Youth

Director

Parish

Youth

D/rector

MEN

Cha/rman of the

Youth Camm/ttee

ol the Diocesan

Council of Catholic;

Hen for /ts
equ/ valent).

Chairman of the

Youth Committee

of the Deanery

Council of Cathol/c

Men Cor /ts
equ/valent)

Chairman of the

Youth Committee

of the Parish

Council of Catholic

Men Cor Its
equivalent

)

WOMEN

Chairman of the

Youth Committee

of the Dmcesan

Council of Cathol/c

Women.

Chairman of the

Youth Committee

o1 the Deanery

Counc/l of Cathol/c

Women.

Cha/rman of the

Youth Committee

of the Par/sh

Counc/lof Cathol/c

Women

YOUTH

fleeto'e Officers

of the Diocesan

Youth Council

flect/ve Officers

of the Deanery

Youth Counc/l

Elective Officers

of the Par/sh

You th Coun c/l

Y.C.



10 WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL?

Section 2:

No Indi-

vidual

Member-

ship

Section 3:

Delegates

Section 1

:

Director

Section 2:

Section 3:

Youth

Board

Direct personal membership in the Par-

ish Youth Council is impossible. Cath-

olic young men and women, particular-

ly those between the ages of 16 and 25

wishing to be represented in the Parish

Youth Council must hold membership

in one of the youth groups affiliated

with the Council.

If there is only one Catholic youth

group operating in the parish, this

group fulfills the function of the Parish

Youth Council.

Each approved Catholic youth group in

the parish is entitled to two delegates

on the Parish Youth Council. These

delegates are elected by their respect-

ive groups to serve for a term of one

year; their participation must be ap-

proved by the Spiritual Director of

their particular group.

ARTICLE V : Government

The Pastor or his representative is the

Spiritual Director of the Parish Youth

Council.

The officers in the parish Youth Council

are the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Sec-

retary, and Treasurer, elected by the

official delegates for a term of one year.

These officers should be equally divided

between the young men and young

women and may not succeed themselves.

The Pastor shall appoint a parish

youth board composed of adults (both

men and women) interested in youth



WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL? 11

Section 1:

Regular

Meetings

Section 2:

Special

Meetings

Section 3:

Officer’s

Meetings

Section 4:

Decisions

Section 1:

Purpose

and representing adult organizations in

the parish, sponsoring youth work.

This adult youth board would function

as an Advisory Board for the Parish

Youth Council.

ARTICLE VI: Meetings

The Parish Youth Council meets once

every two months. When so desired,

the meeting of the Parish Youth Coun-

cil may be followed by a joint meeting

of the Youth Council and the adult par-

ish Youth Board.

Special meetings of the Parish Youth

Council may be called at any time by the

Chairman of the Council after consulta-

tion with the Spiritual director.

The officers of the Parish Youth Council

together with the Spiritual Director,

should meet at regular intervals, sub-

ject to call by the Chairman.

All decisions made by the Parish Youth

Council require agreement on the part

of the majority of the members of the

Council, and also approval of the

Spiritual Director.

ARTICLE VII: Commissions
' The Parish Youth Council may create

special commissions in order to accom-

plish particular objectives or to conduct

some special project. Such commissions

could provide literature for study plans,

etc., in order to further the study of par-

ticular problems in the light of parish

conditions, especially in the field of re-



12 WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL?

Section 2:

Commis-

sion

Personnel

Section 1:

Youth

Leaders

Section 2:

Adult

Youth

Leaders

Section 3:

Parish

Youth

Confer-

ence

Section 4:

Youth

Forums

ligious, cultural, social, and recreational

activities.

Such commissions may be entrusted to

one or several persons. They may be

chosen from the representatives of the

various youth groups, from the mem-

bership of the adult parish Youth Board

or from the general membership of the

various constituent units of the Parish

Youth Council. Where such Commis-

sions are set up, the Chairman should

attend Council meetings.

ARTICLE VIII: Conferences

The Parish Youth Council should spon-

sor a youth leaders’ training course. It

should be designed for the young men

and young women in the parish active

in youth work or interested in becom-

ing leaders.

The Parish Youth Council should co-

operate with the adult parish youth

Board in the development of an adult

youth leaders’ conference.

Once a year the Parish Youth Council

shall sponsor a parish youth confer-

ence. This conference should follow a

well-planned agenda taking into con-

sideration the interests of the young

people in the parish and the activities

being conducted under the auspices of

the various parish youth groups.

The Parish Youth Council may sponsor

a youth forum. The planning and the

conduct of the program of the youth



WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL? 13'

forum would be in the hands of the

young people themselves, but it should

be 'planned in such a way as to war-

rant the inviting of adults in the par-

ish.

Section 5: The Parish Youth Council in cooperat-

Special ing with some constituent units may

Confer- sponsor special conferences for par-

ences ticular purposes. These special con-

ferences would depend on the needs and

the conditions in the individual parish

and should not in any way interfere

with the program or projects of the in-

dividual groups.

ARTICLE IX : Amendments

Section 1 : Amendments to the present Constitu-

Yoting tion may be voted by a two-thirds of

the delegate members of the Parish

Youth Council.

Section 2 : Any amendments to the Constitution of

Approval the Parish Youth Council must have

the approval of the Spiritual Director.

YOUTH DEPARTMENT, N. C. W. C.
I. Authorization

At the Bishops’ Meeting, held November 13 and

14, 1940, in Washington, D. C., the recommendation

of the Administrative Board regarding a Youth De-

partment was approved and the Administrative

Board was authorized to establish it. The new De-

partment was created by the Administrative Board

of the N.C.W.C. at its regular meeting, on Novem-

ber 15, 1940.

II. The Need

Youth organizations and youth-serving agencies



14 WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL?

are not new. Today, however, the trend in the field

is assuming a new direction toward greater coordin-

ation of youth work and the unification of youth’s

forces. The Federal Government has set up the

National Youth Administration and the Civilian

Conservation Corps. The activity and the scope of

the Children’s Bureau and the United States Office

of Education have increased. The American Coun-

cil on Education, through its endowed American

Youth Commission, has made extensive studies and

recommendations on the problems and needs of

youth. There are now existing some 400 national,

non-governmental youth or youth-servicing organi-

zations in the United States. The Church must deal

methodically with these new trends and organiza-

tions, evaluate them, oppose them when necessary,

and collaborate with them when desirable.

III. Status

The Youth Department is one of the eight De-

partments in the N.C.W.C. and it functions under

the Chairmanship of the Most Reverend John A.

Duffy, Bishop of Buffalo, a member of the Admin-

istrative Board of the N.C.W.C. Like all Depart-

ments within the Conference, it operates as the

agency created by the Archbishops and Bishops to

serve them in the national field. It executes, under

the direction of its Episcopal Chairman, the policies

agreed upon by the Bishops.

IV. Its Purposes

The youth Department has three main objec-

tives :

1) To facilitate the exchange of information

regarding the philosophy, organization, program-

content and methods of Catholic youth work.

2) To promote the National Catholic Youth



WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL? 15

Council as the federating agency for all approved

Catholic youth groups.

3) To contact and evaluate all national, gov-

ernmental and non-governmental youth organiza-

tions and youth-serving agencies.

V. Its Functions

Since the Youth Department is a servicing agen-

cy, it must be clear that it is not a youth movement

nor a super-authority imposed on existing youth

groups or organizations. It does not dominate or

control agencies set up by Bishops in individual

dioceses, nor does it propose to divert the interests

of our Catholic youth from local and diocesan pro-

jects to works of national significance.

On the contrary, the Youth Department pro-

vides the framework in which coordination of all

Catholic youth work can be achieved. It helps Cath-

olic youth leaders and young people better to under-

stand the problems centering about youth; it furn-

ishes information and documentation adequate for

the interpretation of youth work both Catholic and

non-Catholic, private and governmental, youth-led

and adult-sponsored, domestic and foreign. Finally,

it develops, under the Hierarchy, the National Cath-

olic Youth Council.

NATIONAL CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL
I. Authorization

The National Catholic Youth Council was in-

itiated by the Administrative Board, N.C.W.C., in

April 1937. It was approved at the General Meet-

ing of the Bishops in November 1937.

II. What is the N.C.Y.C.?

The N.C.Y.C. is a federation of all existing ap-

proved Catholic youth groups in the United States.

It was instituted to promote, under ecclesiastical
supervision, interchange of information and serv-



16 WHAT IS A PARISH CATHOLIC YOUTH COUNCIL?

ices as well as unity and cooperation. This new
development does not necessarily imply changes in

existing Councils and organizations, but it does pro-

vide a framework whereby such existing Councils

and organizations can be unified on a voluntary

basis.

The National Catholic Youth Council is so con-

stituted that it leaves unhampered the autonomy

and initiative of its affiliated membership and re-

serves to each Ordinary full authority over the youth

of his diocese. Its underlying principle is substan-

tially that on which the National Councils of Men and
Women have been developed. On a national scale
there is “need for orderly and united action, the op-

posite of more individualist and separatist action in
things that concern the common good of Church and
country.” (N.C.W.C. Manual)

III. Relationship between Youth Department

and National Catholic Youth Council

While they are separate and distinct entities,

one is the complement of the other. Both are spon-

sored by the Hierarchy. The Youth Department is

the official agency of the Hierarchy in the field of

youth work; the N.C.Y.C. is the federation of all

existing approved Catholic youth groups. The

N.C.Y.C. has its national headquarters in the Youth

Department, and is subject to the direct control of

the Hierarchy represented by the Episcopal Chair-

man of the Youth Department.

IV. Constituent Units of the

National Catholic Youth Council

According to the approved plan, the N.C.Y.C.

makes provision for two sections—the Diocesan
Section, and the College and University Section. The

Diocesan Section is designed to include the respec-

tive Diocesan Youth Councils which voluntarily as-

sociate themselves with the National organization.

The College and University Section makes provision

for two national student federations, the National

Federation of Catholic College Students and the

Newman Club Federation.



The Youth Department, as a part of the National
Catholic Welfare Conference works in sincere collaboration

with other divisions of the Welfare Conference whose activi-

ties touch youth, notably the Youth Committee of the Na-
tional Council of Catholic Women, the Confraternity of Chris-
tian Doctrine and the Social Action Department. Each of these

have literature and aids most useful to all engaged in Catholic

youth work.

I. NCCW Youth Publications. Youth Committee, NCCW,
1312 Massachusetts Ave., Washington, D. C.

Youth Leader’s Handbook $ .25

White Book-Policies Standards and Training „ .10

The Role of Leaders . 10

The Whole Youth ....... 05
Eternal Heroines .. .25

Youth Today and Tomorrow, I .10

Youth Leadership and Catholic Action El .10

Call to Youth III 10

Call to Youth IV , 10

Call to Youth V 25
Arfivitv AiiIq*

The Handcraft Notebook 1.00
The CYC Song Book 25
Parliamentary Procedure ... 15

Quantity Prices—25c booklets: 50, $10.00; 100, $15.00; 200,
$25.00. 10c booklets: 50, $4.50; 100, $8.00; 200, $15.00.

5c booklets: 50, $2.00; 100, $3.75; 200, $7.00.

v II. Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. 1&12 Massachusetts

Avenue, Washington, D. C.

A Holy War for Knowledge (Fr. Cleary) 2 copies .05
Parts I and II The Life of Christ ... .25
Part III The History of the Apostolic Church .. .25

Church History Through Biography .30

Ethics of Christianity .. 30

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass ... .50
How to Organize and Conduct a Discussion Club 05
Suggestions for Discussion Club Leaders 02

III. The Social Action Department, NCWC, 1312 Massachu-
setts Avenue, Washington, D. C.

CATHOLIC ACTION PROGRAM SERVICE, Per Year $5.00
(Suggestions for cjass and club program activities on a

different social subject each month. Includes a subscription to

CATHOLIC ACTION and to pertinent pamphlet material).

Toward Social Justice 15
The American Labor Movement 10
The Obligation of Catholics to Promote Peace .10
Pope Pius XII and Peace - .10

Patriotism, Nationalism and the Brotherhood of Man 10
Citizen, Church and State - .10

Making Democracy Work .... .... 10
Preparation for Catholic Family Life . 30

Rural Catholic Action (Diocesan Director Series No. I) .10



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