IYCW warns against fake news

Addressing the 42nd Session of the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris from 7-22 November 2023, IYCW president, Basma Louis, stressed the importance of raising awareness among young people by providing training spaces to compensate for the failure of public institutions.

She also warned of the dangers of social media.

“Social media have become a space for unchecked information; fake news and historical revisionism have flooded them and are promoted by those who profit from the distortion of history,” Ms Louis stated.

“We are witnessing clear white supremacy and racism in dealing with different conflicts in the world today, which is having an impact on our mentalities, our sense of security and our vision of humanity, questioning our future,” she observed.

YCW centenary 2025

In her address, Ms Louis also spoke of the forthcoming centenary of the IYCW in 2025 and the importance of the movement’s educational work:

“In 2025, the IYCW will celebrate its 100 years of existence, 100 years of space offered to young people from all over the world for their training and education, because our educational mission is one of our essential tasks, which consists in making young workers aware not only of their labour rights, but also of their rights as human beings and respect for one another.”

In her concluding remarks, Ms Louis also praised UNESCO’s contribution to peacebuilding through international cooperation in education and guidance.

“Let’s continue on this path to build a peaceful future for the new generations,” she concluded.

FULL STORY

The IYCW at UNESCO: Let’s Build a Peaceful Future for the New Generations (IYCW)

RIP Betty Villa

Betty Villa, vice-president of the International YCW from 1961-65, has died in her native Philippines at the age of 96.

We remember her by sharing this video she recorded for the Cardijn Community International Vatican2+50 Conference held in Manila in 2012.

RIP Betty and thanks for your lifetime of commitment.

Message from Cardijn as recorded by Betty Villa

Betty quoting Cardijn again

RIP Bartolo Perez, IYCW president and Vatican II lay auditor

Brazilian Bartolo Perez, president of the IYCW from 1961-65 and a lay auditor at Vatican II, died on 21 January 2022 at the age of 96.

Born on 20 November 1925, Bartolo began work as an apprentice turner in a small auto parts factory at the age of fourteen. Here, Bartolo met young Emídio, a YCW leader, who introduced him to the YCW in the Mooca neighbourhood of Sao Paulo.

Soon, he became involved in union action to defend the dignity and improve the working conditions of young workers in his factory.

These actions eventually led to his involvement in preparing Brazil’s 1st National Congress of Young Workers and the 1st National Congress of Domestic Workers.

Elected national president, he also helped launched the YCW in neighbouring Uruguay. In 1957, he attended the International YCW pilgrimage to Rome and First International Council.

Four years later at the Second International Council in Rio de Janeiro in 1961, he was elected IYCW international president, succeeding Romeo Maione.

News article on Bartolo’s election as IYCW president

Working with Cardijn, he advocated on behalf of the IYCW from the beginning of Vatican II in 1962, helping contact and lobby many bishops friendly to the YCW, particularly in Latin America.

In 1964, Pope Paul VI appointed him as a lay auditor to the Council in which capacity he continued to assist in the drafting of the Decree on Lay Apostolate, Apostolicam Actuositatem, and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World of Today, Gaudium et Spes.

After completing his term with the IYCW, he returned to Brazil with his wife, Candida, moving to Porto Alegre, where he studied pedagogy and became a vocational teacher.

Upon his retirement, he remained active as a member of an Association of Retired Teachers in Private Schools in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, remaining a fierce defender of the rights of the elderly all his life.

He also remained close to the YCW, editing the Boletín Solidariedade, for former YCW members. He also helped compile a book on the history of the Brazil YCW, Juventude, Trabalho, Vida: uma história de desafios – JOC no Brasil, 1935 a 1985.”

From 1997-2000, he also took part in the IYCW History Project, contributing greatly to the volume on the history of the YCW in the Americas.

Candida predeceased Bartolo, dying on 17 May 2015.

Cardijn, Pat Keegan and Bartolo Perez at Vatican II

REFERENCES

Bartolo Perez: A Chronology of The Life of a YCW Activist Who Remained a YCW Activist All His Life (International YCW)