The message read: "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart." A spokesman said earlier the pontiff would "reach out to everyone" with accounts in eight languages.
Pope Benedict XVI has sent today his first tweets. We think it is an important day in history, when for the first time a Pope enters in this world-media network where millions of young people move and relate. "Dear friends,..." he tweets.
In the UK a child runs away from home every 5 minutes. That's 100,000 children under 16 a year, and 70% of those children are never even reported missing by those who are supposed to love and protect them.
Africa's employment crisis: 'Time to see the world through young people'. Africa's population boom means 1m new jobs are needed each month. Read how young people want to tackle the challenge.
I am traveling in the United States, a country where one of the fastest growing religious identifications is “former Catholic” and where over the past few years the number of people who describe themselves as having no religion has topped one in five. Many of those, of course, are former Catholics.
They will be looking for work. But as they sleep in the bed that was theirs when they were ten, and eat "a proper" breakfast made by their mother, they must wonder how to reconcile their return to a childish life with appearing autonomous and ambitious in job interviews.
Spanish swimmer Mireia Belmonte offered her two silver medals from the London 2012 Olympic Games to Our Lady of Monserrat in Barcelona. The 21-year-old – who won silver in the 800 meter free-style and the 200 meter butterfly.
As the flames that will eventually ignite the Paralympic torch are lit around the UK, the daughter of the games' founder says her father's ambitions were finally realised at London 2012.
The Education Secretary talks about the bishops, free schools and his admiration for the Pope. “Education Secretaries come and go,” he says, “but the Catholic Church’s role in education is global and enduring.”
Watching the Olympics this week? If you tune into the men’s 800-meter track final on Thursday, pay attention to Kenya’s David Rudisha, the current world record holder and favorite to win gold. Rudisha’s coach happens to be a Catholic priest originally from Ireland.
Below is a great article from Catholic News Service about 15 year-old Gold medalist Katie Ledecky. Kate won Gold in the 800 meter freestyle on Friday! She says a Hail Mary before every race, and loves attending Mass every Sunday. As the article below indicates, she's one of Catholic America's shining stars!
The Archbishop said that, just as David 'wasn't much good at fighting in overgrown suits of armour but was quite good with stones and slings', we all have to look inside ourselves and learn what gifts God has given us - gifts that will help 'when life is tough and the challenges and crises are fresh and difficult'.
Carlos Ballve – known as “Litus” to his friends – plays defense on the Spanish field hockey team that is competing in the London 2012 Olympic Games. But as soon as the competition ends, he will head to a Belgium seminary to begin the process of becoming priest.
LAST week, with the excellent support of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO), the Association of North East Councils (ANEC) and the Customs House, I hosted a jobs summit in South Shields, looking at the crisis of youth unemployment across the North East.
Any church that cannot hand on its faith and values to its own younger generation has reason to be fearful. Until young people can enter into a dialogue with the Church, neither the Church nor young people can be fully renewed on their faith journey.
Young people don't want the religious "to lower the bar, to soft-pedal the demands of the Gospel," Archbishop Tobin said. Usually, young people will consider joining a religious community only if they are asked, he said. For many young Catholics, WYD can be the one church event where they have the time, space and camaraderie they need to start pondering the way God wants them to live their faith in the church and in the world.
There's another snip of news from the NE, says Angela. "I'll have to be up early on Saturday but I only have to look out of the window to see the torch!" Nicholas Ridgeon, from Westoe Village in South Shields, has the honour of carrying the Olympic Torch through Whitburn on Saturday.
Dion DiMucci tells Rory Fitzgerald that a ‘sudden and brilliant’ encounter inspired him to give up heroin and embrace the faith. He says that Catholics nowadays need to try to “infiltrate the culture”. “That’s our job, I think, to infiltrate the culture.” Not, he explains, to impose, but to expose “what’s important in life and give people an opportunity to see the truth.”
"Like the first Apostles, you too must be missionaries of Christ among your relatives, friends and acquaintances, in the places where you study and work, among the poor and the sick. Speak of His love and goodness with simplicity, without fear. Christ Himself will give you the strength to do so.
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Dear young friends, I am happy to address you once more on the occasion of the 27th World Youth Day. The memory of our meeting in Madrid last August remains close to my heart. It was a time of extraordinary grace when God showered his blessings on the young people gathered from all over the world. Now we are looking forward to our next meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 2013, whose theme will be: “Go and make disciples of all nations!” (cf. Mt 28:19).
