YOUTH CONFERENCE IN INDIA

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26984, 9 March 1953, Page 3

YOUTH CONFERENCE IN INDIA

N.Z. DELEGATE RETURNS The dominant feature in India today was intense nationalism, said Mr R. O’Leary, one of five New Zealand delegates who recently attended the World Conference of Christian Youth, sponsored by the World Council of Churches. More than 300 delegates representing over 50 countries attended the conference which was held in the Indian market village of Kottayam, Travancore, in the southern part of the country. The Communist movement was very strong in the area where the conference was held, said Mr O’Leary. It established a bookshop near the entrance to the conference, and sent an open letter to the conference. In spite of this there was no hostility. The New Zealanders found that the Hindu and Buddhist faiths were very strong in comparison with the Western faiths. A delegate from the United Nations Organisation attended the conference to observe proceedings and address the delegates on the work of the United Nations. After the conference, Mr O’Leary travelled more than 7000 miles through India and Ceylon. He visited mission stations, and saw what was being done by CORSO in Calcutta, where gifts of dried milk from New Zealand were being distributed. The other Christchurch delegate, Miss Muriel Thomas, is expected to arrive back in New Zealand towards the end of this month.