Young women today are being told that anything goes, there is no objective truth, do whatever makes you “happy.” We’re told, in essence, that we’re our own Gods. With confusion around identity in such a fluid and conflicting world, is it any wonder why young Catholic women are adhering to a more concrete and traditional Read more
Young Spanish Catholics are increasingly drawn to the burgeoning Hakuna movement which has extended its reach to more than 15 other countries. The movement, founded by Fr José Pedro Manglano, is characterised by its focus on music, adoration, formation talks, charity activities, retreats and missionary work. Hakuna has also made waves on social media with Read more
Pope Francis travelled to Lisbon, Portugal, this month for his fourth World Youth Day, to listen to the hopes, challenges and questions of over one million young Catholics from every corner of the global church. He met with sexual abuse survivors, Ukrainian pilgrims, university students, young people suffering from illness; and he challenged them all Read more
Junaid Javed, a Catholic living in Pakistan, was looking forward to his appointment to collect a visa to travel to World Youth Day – WYD – with his wife, Sunaina. But to his dismay, the Portuguese embassy returned his passport without a visa July 24, making him one of a rising number of people prevented Read more
The boy who bypassed papal security in 2013 to embrace Pope Francis is now a seminarian. It was at Rio de Janeiro’s World Youth Day (WYD) that nine-year old Nathan de Brito came to fame. He’s the boy who ran to hug the pope and said he wanted to be a priest. “At that moment Read more
Bishop Steve Lowe will introduce Identity:Identified, the newest spiritual guide for youth, at the World Youth Day 2023 (WYD23) Pilgrims’ Commissioning Mass in Auckland on July 9th. The guide seeks to present Holy Scripture in an engaging manner to younger individuals who may not typically engage with the Bible. The guide, a brainchild of the Read more
Pope Francis urged young Catholics on Sunday to “be the critical conscience of society”. During his celebration of a Mass marking the 36th World Youth Day, Francis praised young people for their efforts to protect the Earth’s environment. Calling them “friends”, Francis told his young congregation “we are not here to be enchanted by the Read more
Preparations for World Youth Day – WYD 2023 – in Lisbon resumed on Saturday, marking the beginning of the new pastoral year. According to Archbishop Américo Aguiar, auxiliary bishop of Lisbon and president of the “WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation”, Pope Francis is following the preparations for World Youth Day “quietly” and with “excitement.” Last Wednesday, Read more
Pope Francis has postponed the World Youth Day and the World Meeting of Families because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. According to a Vatican website notice, the World Meeting of Families will now take place in Rome in June 2022 instead of June 2021. The notice also says World Youth Day which was to be Read more
Bishop Charles Drennan of the Palmerston North Diocese in New Zealand says “We are a communion of people. There is no hierarchy of age in the Church, yet so much of our formal written expression and documentation of who we are is produced by older men (cf. Joel 2:28). “Even the recent final document of Read more