Youth Speak News

NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. - When Thomas Parente found out that St. Pius X parish in North Vancouver was in need of catechism teachers, he willingly signed up to spend Tuesday nights with a group of Grade 6 students.

CALGARY  - Jerome Biollo tries to do his part to reduce his human footprint on the earth. When Biollo, a 25-year-old geologist, moved into his new home in February 2005 in northwest Calgary, he got into the habit of recycling and composting. He also installed energy-saving light bulbs throughout his entire house and a programmable thermostat to regulate room temperature.

SASKATOON, Sask.  - St. Thomas More College on the University of Saskatchewan campus celebrates an important anniversary this year as the college's Newman Centre turns 80 years old. Since 1926, it has served as a Catholic presence on campus, fostering the spiritual growth of the students there.

TORONTO - Miso soup, sushi and a pad thai noodle dish is an average lunch menu for a household of four first-generation Canadians and one international student.   

SUDBURY, Ont. - When Matthew Schouten found out his parish church was closing and merging with another, he immediately decided he would lend a helping hand. The 18-year-old was one of many young people who came together to create a brand new place of worship for their small town of Espanola, 45 minutes outside of Sudbury in the diocese of Sault Ste. Marie.

HALIFAX - When the doorbell rings on a rainy Saturday evening in mid-October, three enthusiastic young women, along with the smell of a homemade salmon casserole, welcomed me through the doors of the Queenship House. It’s a community for young Catholic lay women, currently home to Cristina Tersigni, 26, Jen MacDonald, 32, Ania Szymanska, 20, and Katherine McGee, 19.

EDMONTON - It’s not every day that students earn marks for attending Mass at an aboriginal parish. But Angela Bokenfohr, a theology student at St. Joseph’s College on the University of Alberta campus, is doing just that.

BRAMPTON, Ont. - A movie about the realities of the homeless is not a subject most Hollywood directors dream about filming, but it was an obvious choice for 15-year-olds Audrey Naluz and Arianne Villa.

MOOSE JAW, Sask. - A group of citizens from Moose Jaw is hard at work building a unique project at Vanier Collegiate, Moose Jaw’s only Catholic  high school. An outdoor stopping station labyrinth, a pathway that one follows while reflecting and stopping for prayer, is halfway through its construction phase.