Youth Speak News
Mercy Ships is building a Canada-wide network of students as its first step in a global fund and awareness campaign to bring health care to the poorest areas of the world.
Halloween 4 Hunger aims high
By Ruane Remy, The Catholic RegisterItƵapp no trick that students at St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton, Ont., aren’t looking for treats this Halloween. Instead, they want non-perishable food items so they can surpass a half-million pounds of food collected since the schoolƵapp first Halloween 4 Hunger campaign began in 2000.
Theology at a bar near you
By Sarah Swist, Youth Speak NewsToronto - Faith Connections is expanding its Theology on Tap series to meet the growing needs of the young and faithful in the Toronto area.
Youth reunite for Singspiration
By Michael Chen, Youth Speak NewsMarkham, Ont. - Cynthia Yeh has always felt called to music and to prayer. In Singspiration, she combines both to feel even closer to God.
“You get that feeling when you just know that He is with you,” said Yeh, 17.
Good news, bad news for pro-life group
By Ruane Remy, The Catholic RegisterAs a Manitoba pro-life campus group celebrated the defeat of an attempt to have its club status revoked, it was cautiously awaiting word on further attempts to censor its message.
“We were encouraged to hear members of the (student) council defend free speech on campus and see the motion to revoke our student group status defeated soundly,” said Cara Ginter, vice-president of University of Manitoba Students for a Culture of Life (UMSCL), in a press release. “Unfortunately, two other motions were passed that could be used to censor our student group and others in the future.”
The schoolƵapp student council tried to revoke the pro-life groupƵapp club status after it displayed the controversial Genocide Awareness Project on campus. The GAP shows photos of aborted fetuses and likens them to victims of historical genocides.
Now the UMSCL is awaiting, indefinitely, the consequences of motions passed by the University of Manitoba Student Union.
According to a National Campus Life Network press release, the first motion is looking at having the student council and university administration reconsider and review the process to approve public displays on campus. The second motion is meant to review and clarify the policies surrounding penalizing clubs and revoking club status.
“The policies in place right now are very vague to... the reasons why the student group status would be revoked,” said Agnus-Mariae Lucas, UMSCL president.
“We’re in our fourth year as a student group and throughout those years itƵapp been very apathetic, (the) attitude towards our events. We’ve been holding low-key events for a while, and so GAP was the first really big event that we’ve had that really stirred things up.
“We’ve met upset people, but there were no violent reactions, no really big, explosive arguments,” said Lucas, who adds that she was surprised to learn of complaints to administration.
Ladies’ man to man of God
By Ruane Remy, The Catholic RegisterToronto - In high school, the ladies loved Branden Gordon, and he loved them back.
But Gordon always felt restless and unsatisfied, a feeling he assumed is typical of youth. Yet he persistently searched for what was missing, for the truth. Eventually, he says, God revealed Himself, and so Gordon eventually found his way to religious life. Men entering religious life with the Salesians have the option to become permanent brothers or priests, and though there is still time to change his mind, Gordon has entered the discernment process with the intention of becoming a priest.
Quarter-century of Catholic Christian Outreach
By Stephen Johnson, Youth Speak NewsCatholic Christian Outreach is celebrating 25 years of missionary work among students across Canada by holding its annual Rise Up event in the nationƵapp capital.
Staying Catholic in college
By Virginia Mervar, Youth Speak NewsMaria Kosir, a former student of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, left her secondary school religion classes for the secular studies of university — and her faith deepened.
Sound of opportunity rings through Gandhi Ashram
By Ruane Remy, The Catholic RegisterThe value of music education is at the heart of the Gandhi Ashram School in Darjeeling, India, founded 20 years ago by Canadian Jesuit Father Edward McGuire.
Singer turns escape from dark days into song
By Ruane Remy, The Catholic RegisterMaggie Wang apologized to God as she stood at the side of the freeway. She awaited the transport trucks known to frequent the route near her home. That night, there was only one. And as she was about to jump, she heard a voice say, “ThereƵapp more than this.”
Stratford takes Shakespeare to class
By Evan Boudreau, The Catholic RegisterTORONTO - At St. AngelaƵapp Catholic School theatre is coming alive in the classroom and breaking down barriers.