Youth Speak News

After almost a quarter-century of success in the United States, Totus Tuus is coming to Canada.

Totus Tuus is a parish-based summer-camp program for Catholic youth. It will be offered for the first time in Canada at 18 parishes in the archdiocese of Toronto starting July 3 and running until mid-August.

The Totus Tuus program began in 1987 in the archdiocese of Wichita, Kansas, and today is established in over 21 dioceses in the United States. The name was derived from Blessed Pope John Paul II’s personal motto, Totus Tuus, translated as “Totally Yours.” The program aims to fulfill evangelical and catechetical needs of young people.

“I thought that there wouldn’t be a better way than to offer a parish summer camp to provide something substantial for our young people,” said Fr. Hansoo Park, director of  vocations for the archdiocese of Toronto.

Admit it. At some point in your life, you looked in the mirror and were not pleased with what you saw.

Society has given us standards we are expected to live up to. We have to be smart, we have to be athletic, we have to be talented. But of all these standards, the most persistent message youth are being fed is that we have to be beautiful — by societal standards of course.

Both girls and guys have to deal with self-esteem issues, and everyone has experienced one of those days where they just don’t feel good enough.

As Catholic youth, it is important to remember that we are all made in God’s image and that God created us to be unique and special in our own way.

What we are exposed to on television and in magazines is not real beauty. The technology of today, including software programs such as Photoshop, enhance the images we see in the media.

BRAMPTON, ONT. - St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School’s year-end musical gave the audience much more than entertainment. It imparted an educational message on poverty and access to resources.

Amid the backdrop of a Romeo-and-Juliet-like love story, The Other Side of the River portrays the uneven distribution of the world’s wealth and how poverty is treated in the Western world.

The audience saw how the worlds of the rich and the poor can work together and share resources in order to make the world a better place, said vice principal of arts Leslie Marchand.  

Produced in association with World Vision Canada, a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization, The Other Side of the River included more than 70 actors, dancers and singers from the school’s regional arts program. The play opened June 2, with additional performances on June 4, 10 and 11.

With final exams just around the corner for some, and in full-swing for others, many high school students are feeling the pressure. But they can use faith and the knowledge that they are not alone to help them through these challenging times.

“Sometimes teens think that God is only in the most spiritual parts of their lives, but God is in every aspect of your life,” said Denise Lobo-Pryce, a religion teacher at Pope John Paul II Catholic Secondary School in Toronto.  The upcoming exam period for high school students is no exception.

In the Toronto Catholic District School Board, semestered schools start their exam period June 20 and non-semestered schools started on June 14.

Lobo-Pryce said that there are many different ways for students to connect with God and relax during this stressful time, such as praying the rosary or going for a walk in nature.

WASHINGTON - Move over, Spider-Man. Here come some new comic-book heroes.

Among this new breed of heroes are Pope Benedict XVI, St. Paul and Old Testament figure Judith.

They are the stars of comic books done in a style older generations never saw in the comic-book rack at the neighborhood drugstore growing up. The genre is called manga, a Japanese genre of cartoons and comic books, and Jonathan Lin, who runs Manga Hero, may well be the world's only publisher of Catholic manga comics.

A 32-page Pope Benedict manga comic will be distributed in August during World Youth Day in Madrid. Lin said he expects to have 300,000 copies produced in Spain to meet demand. He hopes it will whet World Youth Day participants' appetites for a longer Pope Benedict manga to be produced this fall in the United States.

An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. If you do something good for me, I will return the favour. But if you harm me, then I will harm you back. Should the goodness of our actions depend primarily on how others treat us? The all-too-common act of revenge in society, which lives this expression out literally, seems to answer in the affirmative. But as young Catholics, we must be wary of such desires for vengeance.

Revenge focuses on punishing others — making them “pay” for their actions. It is commonplace in society, but because it is rooted in hatred aimed at punishing another person, it is contradictory to Church teaching and tradition.  

In seeking revenge, the avenger becomes the judge and determines the punishment.

Some examples are more extreme than others, such as capital punishment and murder for vengeance, such as the recent killing of Osama bin Laden. Hatred is often a feeling that arises towards those individuals who commit atrocious acts in the world. As a response, revenge is pursued to quench the hatred, and supposedly, achieve justice.

Forty-five years ago, Pope Paul VI warned the Catholic world of “the vast and complex phenomenon of the modern means of social communication, such as the press, motion pictures, radio and television.”

To youth today, this caution may seem comical, yet it bears a striking resemblance to Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the 45th World Communications Day, which landed on June 5. This time, however, it’s all about the Internet.

“As with every other fruit of human ingenuity, the new communications’ technologies must be placed at the service of the integral good of the individual and of the whole of humanity,” said the Pope. “If used wisely, they can contribute to the satisfaction of the desire for meaning, truth and unity which remain the most profound aspirations of each human being.”

In his message, the Pope celebrated the benefits of modern digital communications like social networking and blogging, while heeding their shortcomings. And to youth, who are the most invested in digital communications, he extended a specific invitation to maintain a Catholic identity — even on the web.

QUEBEC CITY - In a tourist-haven like Quebec City, even with all its secular distractions, Catholics engaging in their faith are no strangers.  

Despite the rise of secularism in the province, a trip to Quebec City in May showed that Catholicism is still shining its light in la belle province — you just have to know where to look. The province’s capital city is a great place to start.

There are several noteworthy religious attractions in Old Quebec, such as the Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral, the Ursuline Convent, the Séminaire de Quebec (Seminary of Quebec) and the Collège Francois-De-Laval.  

Notre-Dame is located at the centre of the walled city, in the heart of Old Quebec’s tourist zone. Constructed in 1647, Notre-Dame lays claim as the oldest parish in North America. Twice destroyed by flames, the site is rich in history.

TORONTO - The Youth Speak News team of writers gathered at the Newman Centre at the University of Toronto May 27-29 for the annual Youth Speak News retreat.

The weekend combined faith, journalism workshops and fun.

OSHAWA, Ont. - While some youth raise funds at their parish by having bake sales or car washes, the youth in St. Gertrude’s Life Teen Band decided to do something a little different: they recorded a CD.

And on June 4, the band celebrated the launch of Sing with a Joyful Heart with a concert at St. Gertrude’s parish in Oshawa. All funds raised from the concert and CD sales will support the parish’s new Edge and Life Teen programs, parish-based youth ministry programs designed to help youth learn more about their Catholic faith and develop a deeper relationship with God.

“We hope this CD stays with the band members as they leave high school, get further education  and eventually enter the work force, get married or enter religious life,” said Eamonn Doyle, band leader. “And hopefully the CD will act as a reminder of how their faith grew during the process of making this.”

The CD is made up of 14 songs — with half sung by the entire group and the other half sung by soloists.