Catholic student youth
| Catholic Student Youth (KSJ) |
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|---|---|
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| legal form | registered association |
| founding | 1971 |
| Seat | Cologne |
| purpose | Catholic school association |
| Chair | Ozan Ardicoglu (Federal Political Leadership), Julia Kösters (Federal Spiritual Leadership) |
| Website | www.ksj.de |
The Catholic Student Youth (KSJ) is a free group within the Catholic Church.
Until December 30th, 2011 the KSJ was a working group of the two independent Catholic youth associations "Heliand Girls Circle" and "Student Community in the Federation of New Germany ". Since December 30th 2011 the KSJ has been an independent youth association.
history
The beginnings of the KSJ and the two associations of the student community in the Bund Neudeutschland and Heliand Mädchenkreis were shortly after the First World War , in 1919. At that time, a federation was founded by Jesuits that was organized at grammar schools . The zeitgeist of the youth of that time should be taken up to shape a new Germany. The main themes were "naturalness, simplicity, truthfulness, personal responsibility, community". That is why this union was called "Bund Neudeutschland". In this covenant girls and boys were initially active together until the Catholic Church forbade this. So the girls left and founded their own union, the Heliand-Bund. From this the Heliand girls group developed.
After repression and prohibition by the National Socialists, Heliand and Bund New Germany were reconstituted after the Second World War and worked together. The Catholic Student Youth was founded in 1971 as a working group from the two independent youth associations, the Heliand Girls' Group and the Student Community in the Federation of New Germany. At the federal conference of the KSJ and the two associations on December 29, 2011, it was decided to merge the two associations Heliand Girls Circle and Student Community in the Federation of New Germany with the Catholic Student Youth, which has become a youth association. Thus, since December 30, 2011, the KSJ has been an independent association that works with other member associations in the Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ). She belongs to the European as well as international KSJ, whose initial phase she was responsible for by Franz-Wilhelm Heimer , Theodor Hanf and Walter Molt and which influenced her development strongly. Its members are mainly high school students and students who organize themselves in groups and in so-called “student cafés”. The KSJ is a member of the International Young Catholic Students (IYCS) / International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS).
It should be mentioned that in the meantime the university students who emerged from the student associations had come together to form the ND-Hochschulring (HSR). Members of the leagues who were older initially founded separate adult associations, the Heliand women's circle and the ND men's ring, which merged in 1980 to form the Association of Catholic Men and Women (KMF).
Self-image and profile
The KSJ sees itself as part of the church at the school with the aim of the self-realization of students. Through its work, the KSJ wants to enable them to recognize the individual and political conditions in society and the church and to encourage them to act responsibly in a Christian way. The KSJ sees itself as a youth association at the interface between school, church and society. Therefore, she can include the students' entire everyday life in her work. The members of the KSJ organize their free time and try to influence the church and society: fun in the community, creativity and dealing with faith are among the activities. A special focus is on helping to shape life at school. Here, among other things, an attempt is made to organize the afternoons of the pupils with a voluntary offer and help with homework using the medium of the “pupil café”.
Basics
The basis of the work of the working group is the so-called platform , the basic program of the association. In it statements are made about the life of the association and the identity of the members and attempts are made to classify the KSJ in the life of the members.
“The rule of God is an alternative to every conceivable human rule; any rule over people is thus fundamentally called into question. "
"As Christians, we live in the awareness that every person is desired and unique by God."
"Autonomy, freedom and development of the individual in his inclinations and abilities on the one hand and solidarity, commitment to justice, peace and the integrity of creation on the other hand must be the focus of education."
"In the KSJ, young people find the space in which they can search and find their identity without assigning identities or other constraints."
"As part of the church, girls and women as well as boys and men are entitled to spaces in which they can develop and express their spirituality."
"We demand half the power from the girls and women, half the work from the boys and men."
“The KSJ is a place in the church where young people are invited to a dialogue that can lead to faith. Our solidarity with the Church includes criticism of it. "
"Voluntary tasks represent a field of learning and experimentation in which self-determined commitment and social responsibility are learned."
structure
City group level
Since the KSJ is a school association, the KSJ city groups are mostly located in schools or in their immediate vicinity. The offers of the city groups range from homework supervision to student mentoring programs, group lessons and leisure activities to holiday camps. Some city groups are school cafes where there are more open options. The largest city groups can be found in Berlin, Hamburg and Bonn (Klemens Hofbauer Group).
Diocesan level
At the diocesan level, the city groups of a diocese are united, they choose their own diocesan guide and there are conferences and councils. Many dioceses also have their own offices that perform administrative tasks to support volunteer leadership. The KSJ is currently represented in the following dioceses: Aachen , Augsburg , Bamberg , Berlin , Eichstätt , Freiburg , Fulda , Hamburg , Hildesheim , Cologne , Limburg , Magdeburg , Mainz , Munich-Freising , Münster , Paderborn , Passau , Regensburg , Rottenburg-Stuttgart , Speyer , Trier , Würzburg .
Federal level
At the KSJ federal level there are the highest decision-making bodies of the KSJ. This includes the federal conference, at which, for example, the federal management, based in the Federal Office in Cologne, is elected, as well as all other important structural and content-related decisions relating to the federal association are made. In addition, there is a spring and autumn council, the conferences are smaller so that decisions can be made throughout the year. There are also project working groups that deal, for example, with the issues of education and gender. There are also major events that take place at irregular intervals on various topics.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, and especially in Bavaria, there is still the special feature of the state working groups . In Bavaria, this works together with the J-GCL and networks all Bavarian dioceses with one another.
International networking
The German KSJ is a member of the International KSJ based in Paris.
useful information
The songbook Dacapo , published by the KSJ Amberg (diocese of Regensburg), is also very popular outside the association itself with amateur singers and especially with guitarists (who accompany chords). In addition, the magazine Silberner Pfeil ("Sipf") has been published by KSJ Amberg since 1950 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Federal Administration. KSJ, accessed June 6, 2018 .
- ^ International Young Catholic Students / International Movement of Catholic Students: Where we are , accessed April 23, 2019.
- ↑ platform. The KSJ's basic program (PDF; 789 kB), accessed on February 5, 2016
- ↑ Dacapo song book by KSJ Amberg , accessed on April 23, 2019.