Young People

The Latest

Cardinal Ángel Fernández, 10th successor of St. Don Bosco.

Don Bosco’s successor: Young people need gentleness and love to fulfill their dreams

Jan 9, 2024

By Abel Camasca

Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime encouraged fostering young people’s dreams but “not with blows,” just as Christ himself asked the Salesians’... Read more

Participants in the 2023 National Youth Pilgrimage to the Christ the King statue high atop Cubilete in the Mexican state of Guanajuato.

Young people to make pilgrimage to Christ the King shrine for religious freedom in Mexico

Jan 3, 2024

By Diego López Colín

With the theme “We ask for citizen participation, we demand religious freedom,” thousands of young Catholics are preparing to make... Read more

Pope Francis waves from the window of the Apostolic Palace as he gives his Angelus address for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023.

Pope Francis announces Catholic Church’s first World Day of Children

Dec 8, 2023

By Courtney Mares

The event was inspired by a 9-year-old boy named Alessandro, who proposed the idea to the pope to have an... Read more

Maximiliano Pavillaux walks in the mud to reach the parish for confirmation on Nov. 11, 2023. / The child receives the recognition of Pope Francis from Bishop Mauricio Landra, the auxiliary bishop of Mercedes-Luján, Argentina.

Boy walks 7 miles on muddy roads to receive confirmation, gets a blessing from the pope

Dec 5, 2023

By Julieta Villar

The night before confirmation, the boy’s parents began to worry because the family vehicles were not going to make it... Read more

YDisciple is a streaming project aimed at providing training resources for adults and teaching materials for youth. It announced in November 2023 it is partnering with the Juan Diego Network to adapt the YDisciple project to the Spanish language and the needs of Latino culture.

NET Ministries launches outreach to U.S. Hispanic youth

Nov 30, 2023

By Walter Sánchez Silva

According to a Pew Research study, 60% of Catholics under the age of 18 in the United States are Hispanic. Read more

More than 40,000 young people turned out for a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of Río Blanco and Paypaya in the northern province of Jujuy in Argentina on Oct. 27, 2023.

More than 40,000 young people make pilgrimage to Virgin of Rio Blanco shrine in Argentina

Nov 3, 2023

By Julieta Villar

Last weekend more than 40,000 young people turned out for a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of Río... Read more

Participants at World Youth Day 2023 in in Lisbon, Portugal.

World Youth Day: 96% of pilgrims think gatherings contribute to evangelization

Jul 31, 2023

By Nicolás de Cárdenas

Among the motivations for attending the international meeting with the pope is “encountering Jesus Christ” followed by “living new experiences.” Read more

Young people at a July 14, 2023, sendoff Mass for Chilean Catholic college students ahead of their winter break missionary work.

1,000 Chilean college students go out on mission projects during their winter break

Jul 19, 2023

By Julieta Villar

One thousand students from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile set off July 14 for missions projects over their winter... Read more

Pope Francis meets with young cancer patients from Poland at the Vatican on May 29, 2023.

Pope Francis meets with young cancer patients: ‘Jesus is always close to you’

May 30, 2023

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis welcomed pediatric cancer patients from Poland to the Vatican on Monday. Read more

Young Salesians in Syria.

How the Salesians are helping youth in Syria, a country in its 12th year of civil war

Mar 16, 2023

By Abel Camasca

March 15 marked the 12th year of civil war in Syria, where bombs, poverty, and earthquakes have destroyed the country. Read more

A person takes a photo of Pope Francis on a cell phone during a papal audience on Dec. 10, 2022.

Pope Francis: Look at each other, not cell phone screens

Dec 15, 2022

By Courtney Mares

“Our eyes are meant to look into the eyes of others. They were not made to look down at a... Read more

The pilgrim image of Maria de Itatí and the multitude of pilgrims in front of the basilica at the Shrine of the Virgin of Itatí in the Archdiocese of Corrientes, Argentina, on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.

300,000 youths make pilgrimage to Virgin of Itatí in Argentina

Sep 20, 2022

By CNA Staff

Under the theme “Together with Mary, we meet again as a synodal Church,” the young people made a pilgrimage to... Read more

null

Spanish bishop: We’re creating ‘monsters’ if youth don’t grow up to be loving and generous

Aug 6, 2022

By CNA Staff

Bishop Juan Carlos Elizalde of Vitoria, Spain, warned that some young people are “at risk” for self-centeredness because of the... Read more

Pope Francis with teens at the opening ceremony of World Youth Day 2019 in Panama.

Pope Francis to teens: Use the summer break well

Jun 28, 2022

By Hannah Brockhaus

"I encourage you to use well and responsibly the time that is available to you," Pope Francis said in a... Read more

Pope Francis during his general audience in Paul VI Hall on January 26, 2022.

Pope Francis: Jesus frees us from the ‘paralysis’ of laziness and selfishness

Apr 23, 2022

By Courtney Mares

The pope met with young people participating in a missionary youth conference. Read more

Pope Francis greets 80,000 teens on pilgrimage in St. Peter’s Square on April 18, 2022.

Pope Francis tells 80,000 teens to ask Our Lady for courage to do God’s will

Apr 19, 2022

By Courtney Mares

The youth pilgrimage was organized in an effort to reach out to young people whose lives were upended during the... Read more

St. Joseph and the Christ Child, by Guido Reni

Follow St. Joseph's example, Pope Francis tells priests

Mar 19, 2022

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis has written a letter to the Congregation of Saint Joseph. Read more

Bishop Artur Miziński, secretary general of the Polish bishops’ conference.

Catholic Church in Poland plans to reach out to young people in 2022

Jan 3, 2022

By CNA Staff

Other priorities include helping people in need and synodal consultations. Read more

Pope Francis meets with young people at St. Dionysius School of the Ursuline Sisters in Maroussi, Athens, Dec. 6, 2021.

Pope Francis to youth in Greece: Don’t be ‘prisoners of the cell phone’

Dec 6, 2021

By CNA Staff

The pope’s address concluded his three-day visit to Greece. Read more

Pope Francis meets young people of the Scholas Community at Rome’s Pontifical International College Maria Mater Ecclesiae, Nov. 25, 2021

Pope Francis attends student play on how the pandemic has affected young people

Nov 26, 2021

By Courtney Mares

The pope watched a show called ‘The faces of the pandemic.’ Read more