Youth Speak News

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The power of prayer and the aid of technology has united two families thousands of miles apart in an international rescue operation — all at the instigation of two 12-year-old girls.

My college roommate collects movies from a prestigious home-video distribution company called The Criterion Collection. The company licenses, restores and distributes films it deems worthy of its collection.

As the floodgates of international travel open with more and more pandemic restrictions tapering off this month, a Catholic-oriented NGO, Volunteers in International Development, Education and Service (VIDES), is offering a global experience for youth looking to fly with a purpose.

For all Catholics, the Lenten season holds a particular significance. For schoolchildren, the season was perhaps marked by pancakes in the school gym on Shrove Tuesday and worksheets on what kind of candy we wouldn’t eat for the next month and a half.

“Our life is too short to waste it on being mediocre. We must dive into life, not just dip our toes,” said Archbishop of Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins, one of the guest speakers of the Archdiocese of Toronto’s 2022 Ordinandi Dinner Youth Event. 

I once sat in a room at a table with a small group of people doing homework. Except for myself, each person wore earbuds listening to music. I caught snippets of various styles: chords of some rock punk and the melody of a heartfelt ballad … my mind mused what it might be like as I imagined all of the music playing simultaneously without the earbuds. I pondered that everyone would likely be irritated and annoyed as they worked to turn down the music, perhaps allowing one reigning speaker to continue playing. 

“Love has surprised and sent me.” In these words, Virginia-Ann Mervar, 26, introduced her vocation story during a Theology on Tap online talk hosted by the Archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Catholic Youth.

Midnight Mass is a recent Netflix miniseries about a predominantly Catholic small island town whose parish priest came back from a pilgrimage changed.

Saskatoon-born singer-songwriter Kay Clarity hadn’t expected to launch her new pop music project Pax Paloma in mid-February, but witnessing the isolation and loneliness from the pandemic brought about a change of heart for the Catholic artist.

Are young people, particularly those aged 18-30, still interested in religion?