MUMBAI, India (UCAN) -- Asian former members and chaplains of the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS) credited it at an anniversary function for fostering in them a lifelong dedication to human rights.

IMCS Asia Pacific held a celebration marking its 50th year Jan. 17 in Mumbai, India. Student representatives and chaplains from throughout Asia attended as did former coordinators and chaplains, supporters and friends.

The event was held at St. Pius College in Mumbai, 1,410 kilometers southwest of New Delhi. It consisted mainly of sharing by participants, a fellowship dinner and a multilingual prayer service by movement members.

Sri Lankan Oblate Father Tissa Balasuriya, the group's first Asia chaplain, told the group his writings and convictions have been influenced strongly by his work with Asian students.

That work, he said, led him to resign as rector of Aquinas College, a Catholic higher education institute in Colombo, to start the Centre for Society and Religion. The center, also in Colombo, promotes human rights, democracy and sustainable development.

Students must have a desire for radical social reform and become involved in the struggle for justice, said the priest, who has promoted an Asian theology of liberation.

The students' movement arose out of Pax Romana, an international lay organization formed in 1921 with a mission to bring Catholic values into all fields of intellectual and social life. Asian coordination for the movement began in 1954 in India.

What became IMCS Asia Pacific has focused on issues related to interfaith dialogue, human rights, higher education and gender. It organizes campaigns on issues directly affecting students, the poor and the oppressed.

Based in Manila, IMCS Asia Pacific coordinates and works with student groups in Australia, Bangladesh, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, according to information posted on its website.

Anselmo Lee Seong-hoon, secretary general of the International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs-Pax Romana, said his work with IMCS helped him to appreciate the multicultural environment he has lived in. The former Asia Pacific team member from Korea said the movement's positive effects can be seen by the involvement of former members in civil society and the Church through social movements, NGOs, and Church-based agencies and commissions.

Former student members keep alive the spirit of the movement, said Lee, who is involved in human rights work with U.N. organizations in Geneva.

Wong Yick Ching, a former member of the Federation of Catholic Students in Hong Kong and newly elected Asia Pacific team member, spoke of the movement's commitment to searching for new ways of working with disadvantaged students.

Jerald Joseph, a former member from Malaysia who is now involved in human rights work with several national and regional NGOs, said many social activists in Asia, even in countries where Catholics are a minority, had their basic formation in IMCS and other Catholic action movements.

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