Deus et Patria

A number of years ago the Concilium agreed to experiment in targeting the age group of 18-40 specifically in regard to faith activities. It was agreed to have an annual young adults conference and young adult legionary projects in selected areas which were similar to PPC projects.

A young adults committee was set up to steer this work and provisionally named ‘Deus et Patria’ - God and Country.

The main aspect of the annual conference was to give legionaries a ‘boost in the arm’ that were in this age group but were few in number.

It was unlikely young adults would be attracted enough to join or to remain in the organisation over time. Even if they did join the legion, they saw it as an organisation that was really for elderly people due to the majority of membership profiles.​

The young adult’s initiatives allowed for the conference to commence and from that some social activities, retreats and the annual conference for the said age group were introduced.

Importantly, the committee did not seek to interfere with ordinary legion work and membership and in fact it usually stood down for a number of months so that the committee was not seen as a de-facto legion praesidium. In fact the more events or initiatives that can take place at praesidium level, the better it is.

The committee tends to be small in number with 4-6 persons spearheading the projects. The conference started off with about 40 people involved and has now grown to a substantial size and other parts of the country are looking to organise the same in their areas. It is a good platform to take symbolic action but also has a proven formula.