The youth voice is a powerful thing because it keeps the Church alive and growing. I want YSN to continue to be a reflection of that.
The redesign was the first step. I wanted our youth pages to stand out from the rest of the newspaper. Thanks to the talents of our art director Lucy Barco, our pages are now more graphic, fun and, of course, youthful.
My favourite part of the page is the column because every week, our readers get to meet a member of the YSN team.
Most recently, we also welcomed the Tomics series. Tom Gould’s religious funnies bring a new sense of fun to our pages.
In many ways, YSN is a part of youth ministry. It’s about helping young writers fulfill their role in the Church to evangelize. It gives them the opportunity to explore their youth communities, talk about issues they care about and share what they learn with other youth across the country.
The team of youth reporters has covered a wide range of news. It’s been a big year for YSN. In March, we celebrated YSN’s 15th anniversary. We talked to generations of writers that have grown out of the program.
We also celebrated many other anniversaries this year, including NET Canada’s 20 years of ministry, the Felician Sisters’ 50 years of education and St. Michael’s Choir School’s 50 years of Christmas concerts at Massey Hall.
The youth reporters went to this year’s Steubenville Toronto conference, the Ontario Catholic Student Leadership conference and the first ever Interfaith Youth Forum.
But young people are making a difference not just in Canada, but in mission trips to Peru, the Philippines and even Antarctica.
This year, the team has voiced its opinions on important topics throughout the year including teen suicide, mental health, caring for the environment and inter-religious dialogue.
In my short year as youth editor, the most important thing I’ve learned is that young people are excited. They want to show you, the readers, what it’s like to be a Catholic youth in today’s world — and it is hopeful.
There is so much to look forward to next year. This summer, World Youth Day will be celebrated in Krakow, Poland and YSN will be there. Steubenville Atlantic is celebrating its 10th anniversary and Steubenville Toronto is celebrating its third.
For the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January, YSN will feature winning entries in our annual essay contest and young writers will share how they see the future of the Christian Church.
Stay tuned, readers! There are more stories we want to share about how young people are leading the charge to keep the Church alive.