Youth Speak News

Imagine getting the chance to study astronomy at the Vatican Observatory. It may seem hard to do, but it isn’t so hard for Nathan Deg, whose dreams have recently become a reality.

MONTREAL, Que. - Laura Hughes walked into a Taizé prayer session by accident and has been hooked ever since.

TORONTO - Three years ago Larissa Olinda moved to Toronto to open the first Canadian chapter of the Shalom Catholic Community. Within the year two other missionaries, Reimar Barata and Emanuela Gomes, followed.

Catholic Christian Outreach will expand its missionary presence to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., this September.

OTTAWA - While a relic is often labelled as a thing of the past, as Carlos Martins explains, these sacred objects have relevance today. The fourth-year Companions of the Cross seminarian uses his extensive relic collection to teach about them. A former atheist, Martins came to the Catholic Church almost 11 years ago during a mystical dialogue with God before the Blessed Sacrament. Two years later, his relic ministry began.

TORONTO - Maria Shymonovych moved to Toronto from Ukraine two years ago after visiting the city in 2002 for World Youth Day.

WINNIPEG, Man. - At an early age Ian Garcia started doing drugs, drinking, partying and hanging out with the wrong crowd. Eventually his family disowned him.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Nicole Fernandez expected a huge emphasis on faith and to meet friends as one of 125 young people to attend the 12th annual Lasting Treasure’s weekend retreat at Philip Pocock Secondary School in Mississauga in early February. What she didn’t expect, like many others, was the confidence to be a future leader and insight into how to surrender herself to God.

TORONTO - With a thick Philadelphia accent, Rocco Palmo talks a mile-a-minute rattling off quick facts about Vatican hierarchy or a quip about the latest hot-button Catholic issue. This is a guy who spends his day keeping up with the goings-on of the Catholic Church.

WINNIPEG, Man.  - At an early age Ian Garcia started doing drugs, drinking, partying and hanging out with the wrong crowd. Eventually his family disowned him.