Aim

Unite and support the member organizations; offer opportunities to come together in a spirit of fraternity and mutual understanding; create the feeling of a community and stimulate educational exchanges on issues concerning youth and youth work; help uncover and understand the specific needs of children and young people all over the world; build upon the local experiences of its members to track down the needs of young people and youth workers and to develop actions to deal with these needs; represent the member organizations in international bodies and to be a voice of young people; build with and through young people a better world and a living Church.

History

The far origins are to be found in the fifties. The responsible people of the French, Belgian and Dutch youth organisations had been meeting and collaborating for several years. The project of an "International" organisation emerged in 1959 in Luzern, Switzerland. During the 1960 "Eucharistic Congress" in Munich, Germany, a first conference of "General Communities of Parochial Youth" was held, gathering delegates from all the organisations. Then in October 1961 in Munich, Germany 11 organisations from four continents gathered for the foundation of Fimcap. During Easter of 1962 the existence of Fimcap was proclaimed in Rome, Italy, to all. The first group which formed the federation developed the whole concept of Fimcap. They tried to incorporate several national trends into their work. Only after a period of reflection and prliminary discussion with the national leaders were plans set in to motion and were events organised. During the seventies structure began to emerge, activities were considerd and an important principal decision was made: the member organisations should work on an an international as well as on a bilateral level. Furthermore Fimcap became member of several European and International organizations and bodies. In 1976 the Holy See officially recognised Fimcap as being an International Catholic Organisation (ICO), and since then Fimcap is registered at the Council of Laity in Rome. In 2006, Fimcap made a big step forward when it was recognized as a legal international non profit organisation by the Belgian governement.