WHEN A MOVEMENT BROKE GROUND| KAIROS GLOBAL | OCTOBER 2026

Author: Prof CC Alicekutty

Audio

Intro: Pioneer Jesus Youth, Prof CC Alicekutty, remembers the events that led to the formation of the Jesus Youth movement and its subsequent growth.

Remembering and writing down the history of Jesus Youth, a pontifical missionary movement at the service of the Church, gives me great joy, fulfilment, gratitude, and pride. Convinced of the Lord’s doing, I praise God for the opportunity to be an integral part of it. From childhood, I wanted to be a missionary, and God granted that I be a formator of missionaries. As the saying goes, ‘Ask for a flower, and God will give you a garden.’

My first Charismatic Renewal retreat was in 1976, led by Fr Fio Mascarenhas, SJ, Fr Rufus Pereira, and their team at Christ Hall, Calicut. The following week, my friends Edward Edezhath, then a second-year degree student, his cousin Stephanie Papali, and several other young people attended a CCR seminar at St Teresa's College, Ernakulam, conducted by the same team. We were active members of AICUF (All India Catholic University Federation) and met together frequently; desiring all our friends to have the same experience, we began discussing, planning, and praying about it.

When the first Regional Charismatic Leaders' Team (KST) was formed, Eddie and I became members, and Sr Cleopatra, CMC, the secretary, was a wonderful companion in this mission. Following the suggestion of Fr Fio, our first National Chairman, we began working to bring together the youth involved in Renewal at the regional level. We organised a series of retreats. Eddie and Stephanie visited many colleges to mobilise participants and conducted a series of Initial and Growth retreats at St Albert's College, Ernakulam, during the Onam holidays. Retreats and seminars followed in different parts of Kerala.

Regional Gatherings

We organised the first All Kerala gathering of the youth in the Renewal at Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Ernakulam, during the last days of 1978, with more than 800 participants. It was a great beginning for the movement. Praise God! Since then, annual regional youth conferences, retreats, seminars, camps, leadership programmes, and the Youth Encounter Jesus (YEJ) programme for college students have brought countless young people into Renewal.

The Name: JESUS YOUTH

While the KST and the Youth Team were planning a youth conference for 1985, the International Youth Year, we deliberated on a name for the programme. Since I had attended the International Charismatic Leaders' Conference at the Vatican in 1981, and encountered several charismatic groups in the United States, I noticed that they named their annual gatherings Jesus '78, Jesus '79, Jesus '80, and so on. On sharing this, Fr Jose Palatty, CMI, suggested, ‘Why don't we call it Jesus Youth '85?’ The proposal was accepted unanimously. The conference was themed around Youth Today, Jesus Today, and Jesus Youth Today. Participants became convinced that they were called to be the presence of Jesus in their own life situations. They left the conference joyfully proclaiming, ‘I am a Jesus Youth’; the youth in the Renewal began identifying themselves as Jesus Youth, and the movement received its beautiful and meaningful name.

During the conference, leadership teams were formed for various aspects: Teaching, Intercession, Parish, Campus, and Outreach. Many ministries, initiatives, and formation programmes gradually developed. The journey of growth was not without challenges and difficulties, but throughout, we experienced guidance, encouragement, and support from elders from all categories. 

Full-Timers' Training

Santhosh Joseph, then a second-year Pre-Degree student of Mar Ivanios College, Trivandrum, first proposed the idea of Jesus Youth Full-Timers' Training. We conducted a pilot programme in 1991 and in 1992 began the regular training programme with 27 graduates (10 girls & 17 boys).

The programme consisted of a 40-day residential formation, followed by one year of missionary outreach with regular follow-up and accompaniment, leading towards a lifetime missionary commitment.

This year, the 34th batch – both national and international – has been commissioned and sent forth. The full-timers remain the pride and joy of the Jesus Youth movement and have become a tremendous blessing and contribution to the Church’s mission.

Growth and Development

Beginning in Kerala in the 1970s, the movement has now spread to every continent. Leadership teams, networking structures, formation teams, and many ministries actively participate in and influence many areas and fields of the Church. We now have local, regional, national, and international teams, coordinators, animators, resource persons, and pastoral teams. There is continuous formation, good order, discipline, responsible freedom, and genuine commitment.

Discipline in Discipleship

Faithfulness to the Pillars – the constants of spiritual life – such as personal prayer, reading, studying and meditating on the Word of God, participation in the liturgy and sacraments, option for the poor, spiritual guidance (pastoring & eldering), and fellowship (prayer groups/communities), etc. help the individuals and groups to grow in holiness, fellowship, and mission.

Harmony in Variety

Jesus Youth has ministries, teams, and formation programmes for every age group and category, from expectant mothers, children, teenagers, youth, couples, families, and the various professionals with leaders and networks at all levels. There are leaders, coordinators, animators, episcopal advisors, and resource persons from every vocation within the Church – bishops, priests, religious sisters, singles, couples, and families.

Jesus Youth is truly a cross-section of both the Church and society. Its growth and manner of service remain a constant surprise. Surely, this is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Once a Jesus Youth, always a Jesus Youth. There is no age limit, unlike many youth organisations. As St Paul writes, It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20). This is true of every missionary disciple because Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord, never grows old. Sometimes I jokingly say I am 33 years old with an additional half-century of life experience!

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would say that Jesus Youth strives to imitate Jesus – be Jesus, live Jesus, and proclaim Jesus – as St Paul exhorts us: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, ‘The Beatitudes should be the programme of Christian life.’ St John Paul II, in Redemptoris Missio (RM 91), reminds us that ‘The missionary is a person of the Beatitudes.’ The Catechism of the Catholic Church also teaches that ‘The world cannot be transfigured and offered to God without the spirit of the Beatitudes’ (CCC 775).

The characteristics of a person living the Beatitudes include:

Poor in spirit: experiencing their total needs constantly and richly satisfied by God.

Mourning: eager exposure to reality makes them repentant and compassionate

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Meek: placing complete trust in God and enduring everything patiently.

Hunger and thirst for righteousness: passionately seeking God's will in all situations, and a deep commitment to fulfil it.

Merciful: showing active compassion through committed service.

Comprehensively pure: keeping the focus clear.

Peacemakers: remaining uncompromisingly committed to the Redeemer’s mission of establishing the Kingdom of God.

Such people shine by contrast and become both a challenge and a threat to the world.

As individuals and as a movement – as persons, families, communities, and teams – Jesus Youth continues to be an inspiration, a motivation, and a challenge in the Church and the world. Naturally, there are exceptions, as in every human endeavour. Yet, as Shakespeare wrote, ‘The best is yet to be,’ and indeed there are still ‘miles to go’.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Prof CC Alicekutty hails from Kozhikode, India, and is one of the pioneer JYs instrumental in setting up several initiatives of the movement. A single layperson, she has dedicated her life to the Lord for His kingdom in the Catholic Church.