Regional Family Conference - The Northeast Region

The second Regional Family Conference – the North East Region - of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Exarchate was held on August 9 and 10 at the St. Vincent de Paul Malankara Catholic Cathedral Parish, Elmont, New York. The main theme of the Conference was ‘Family’. The Conference began with the celebration of the Holy Mass at 9.00 am on the 9th. His Excellency the Most Rev. Dr. Thomas Mar Eusebius presided over the celebration. After the Holy Mass, the Conference was officially inaugurated by His Excellency. Besides His Excellency, Msgr. Peter Kochery and Dr. Manoj Mathew spoke on the occasion. There were three streams of classes. For the adult, the main resource person was Rev. Dr. Abraham Orapankal who took class on the importance of communication within the family. For the youth, classes were taken by His Excellency Mar Eusebius and Dr. Manoj Mathew. There was a sharing session consisting of faith witness by three young believers. The children’s activities were organized by Brother Jerry Mathew. On the first day, besides the classes, there were a fun session, liturgical music session, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and a cultural program by all the parishes within the Northeast Region. On Sunday the 10th August, the program began with the solemn celebration of the Holy Mass presided over by His Excellency. There was a very lively question-answer session in the afternoon with the theme of ‘our youth and the Church’. The Conference was concluded at 4.00 pm. with an evaluation session and liturgical blessing by His Excellency. More than 400 people participated in the Conference. For all, it was a very enriching experience of praying and learning together and celebrating their ecclesial belongingness. Rt. Rev. Msgr. Peter Kochery functioned as the Chief Coordinator of the Conference. Rev. Sunny Mathew was the General Convener and Mr. Thundiyath Babukutty, the General Secretary. The next and last Regional Family Conference for the year is to be held in Dallas in November.