Youth Speak News

One of the first journalism lectures I ever attended emphasized the importance of non-partisanship on the part of the reporter.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Nicole Alvarez would have never imagined spending her final year of high school initiating a program for students with physical and mental difficulties.

Yet despite the heavy grade 12 workload, Alvarez found herself starting the Best Buddies program at Francis Libermann Catholic Secondary School in Toronto.

We’re a generation of youth missionaries, taught not only in church but in high school youth groups or campus ministries that it’s important to share your faith with others. I remember clearly the call to “propose” the faith rather than to “impose” it. Yet often, to share that faith we need to deepen that faith, which can involve throwing ourselves headlong into an organized evangelization or mission project. World Youth Days, Catholic youth conferences and mission trips are all increasingly part of the natural culture in our  universal church, which ultimately presents a different kind of faith test: fund-raising.

TORONTO - With a new face for its annual “Faith Day,” Dante Alighieri Academy in Toronto gave students a taste of the Gospel with a hip-hop beat.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Ecumenical relationships are an undisputed reality. Yet many couples, split by denomination, remain united in purpose. Peggy Li and Raymond Leung are two young adults who make their inter-church relationship work, built upon a foundational understanding of human dignity and the beauty of religious tradition.

Some people describe the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award as a “do-it-yourself” growing up kit for all young people. To me, it has been a mind-expanding, people-meeting and life-changing experience.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The Office of Catholic Youth has extended early-bird registration for the local World Youth Day event until May 15.

On Easter weekend, my father handed me an article that began, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine”(Isaiah 43:1).

{mosimage}TORONTO - The Redemptorists have made a home for themselves in downtown Toronto — a location ideal for the many youth projects they lead on poverty and justice.

Alcohol is seen both as a substance of cultural pride and as a problem-causing drug. So where does it fit in for young Catholics? While certain Christian denominations practise complete abstinence from alcohol, recent studies of its health benefits cannot be ignored.