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Bangladesh charity to realize missionary's vision

Father Charles J. Young Foundation will promote cooperative ideals but its expansion plans cause concern
Bangladesh charity to realize missionary's vision

Guests and board members launch the Father Charles J. Young Foundation in Dhaka on Nov. 14 in memory of the prominent missionary who promoted the cooperative movement in Bangladesh. (Photo courtesy of CCCUL, Dhaka)

Published: November 19, 2019 03:25 AM GMT
Updated: November 19, 2019 03:25 AM GMT

A new charity in Bangladesh is aiming to fulfil the dreams of a prominent Catholic missionary and pioneer of the country’s cooperative movement.

The Father Charles J. Young Foundation, named after the American Holy Cross missionary, was launched in capital Dhaka on Nov. 14, 31 years after the priest’s death in a road crash.

The foundation will prioritize research into cooperatives, offer scholarship to poor but deserving students and promote good governance in cooperatives in Bangladesh.

The Christian Cooperative Credit Union Limited (CCCUL) in Dhaka, the largest cooperative in the country, is the initial funder of the foundation, which has been started with 30 million taka (US$354,230) in donations.

The foundation is a not-for-profit charity and a tribute to the outstanding contribution of Father Young, said Babu Markus Gomes, a Catholic and president of the CCCUL.

“Father Young was the founder of the CCCUL but few people know that he is also the pioneer of the cooperative credit movement in Bangladesh that has helped millions of people to overcome poverty and to become self-reliant in recent decades,” Gomes told ucanews.

Starting with 50 members and capital of 50 taka (60 US cents) six decades ago, the CCCUL now boasts more than 40,000 Catholic and Protestant members and capital of more than 5 billion taka (US$66 million).

Gomes said that the seven-member foundation would be able to continue with its initial funding but would also be keen to expand its services if it could raise further funds from members’ fees and from national and international donations.

“We believe the foundation can become a beacon to promote the great ideals Father Young had for the welfare of people irrespective of their faith, ethnicity or class,” he added.

Holy Cross Father Liton H. Gomes, a social researcher with a doctoral degree on cooperatives in Bangladesh, welcomed the move but said the foundation should “stick to the principles.”

“Father Young made immense contributions to people’s socioeconomic development through savings and cooperatives,” Father Gomes, secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission, told ucanews. “A foundation with his name should mainly focus on welfare and development  and refrain from making money. We will be watching over how it functions and whether it can truly live up to Father Young’s dreams.”

William Proloy Samadder, a Baptist leader, also hailed the initiative but with caution.

“In our country, we see good things fall apart even after a good start because they deviate from their original mission and vision” Samadder, a strong critic of the current CCCUL board, told ucanews. “I want to believe the new initiative is for the greater welfare of people, not a show-up forum to serve the interests of a few.”

Contributions of missionaries

In the 1950s, distressed over the poor economic conditions facing minority Christians and their plight at the hands of loan sharks, Catholic Church leaders pondered the socioeconomic development of the community in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

In 1953, American Holy Cross Archbishop Lawrence L. Granner of Dhaka sent Father Young to Canada to study cooperatives. Two years later, Father Young, with the support of some Christians in Dhaka, launched what later became the CCCUL.

The priest also traveled across the country to promote a savings mentality among people and how they could become self-reliant through cooperatives.

The cooperative movement become very popular after Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971.

According to the state-run Cooperatives Department, there are about 1.77 million various types of registered cooperatives in the country, with more than 10 million members.

There are about 900 cooperative credit unions in Bangladesh today, 250 based in the Christian community, many of them in rural areas.

Charles Joseph Young was born in New York in 1904, entered the Holy Cross seminary in 1923 and was ordained a priest in 1928.

In 1933, he went to East Bengal, then part of British India, and served in various Catholic parishes before engaging with the cooperatives movement.

He died in a road crash in Dhaka on Nov. 14, 1988, and as per his final wish was buried at the cemetery of Holy Rosary Catholic Church in the capital.

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