ARLINGTON, VA — "Kids have to pray hard but they play hard too," Deacon Matthew DeForest said. "We have to meet them where they’re at." The Catholic Youth Rally is an annual event held by the Arlington Diocese, which covers all of Northern Virginia. The theme for this year’s rally was "Get Your Faith On." "The main purpose of this is to bring all the youth together at the beginning of the [school] year," said Kevin Bohli, the head of youth ministry for the Arlington Diocese. "We want them to think of the church as more than just their parish." More here.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Some 8,000 youth leaders will converge  on Nov. 29 to kick off a nationwide drive to heighten Bible awareness among the youth.  Dubbed "Y! Explode: The Bible Adventure Series," the one-day event was organized in response to findings that more than half of Filipinos do not even have a Bible. It is in response to this reality that the organizers have come together and decided to come up with a deliberate youth scripture engagement program…that will convey to the Y Generation the transformative message of God’s Word in a more interactive fashion. More here.

ST. LOUIS, MO — Members of the youth group at Mary Queen of Peace Parish got a close look at the lives of their less fortunate brothers and sisters at a recent weekend Survivor Service Retreat. "It is an awesome experience," said Kathleen Davis, a member of the Webster Groves parish and mother of two high school students who participated in the retreat. Davis, who leads the youth group, was one of 12 to15 adults who accompanied about 40 teens through a day of service projects and night of experiencing how a homeless person lives. More here.

ROME, GA — St. Mary`s Catholic Church is sponsoring a `fire truck pull` fund-raiser at Richard B. Russell Airport/Towers Field on Nov. 16 with youth groups from all area churches invited to lend a hand and shoulder. "The idea is to have as many church youth as possible come out and in teams of 10 for high school youth and teams of 12 for middle school youth, they will pull a 39-ton ladder truck 12 feet`, says organizer Marc Clay. More here. 

STRASBOURG, FRANCE — A Holy See representative spoke to some 300 Italian youth who are this year’s winners of a contest organized by the Italian Movement for Life. The theme of the ’07-’08 contest was "Europe and Human Rights: We Youth as Protagonists."  The young winners participated Wednesday in a Mass celebrated by Monsignor Giordano. During the homily, he told them, "It seems a closed, gray and cloudy sky has extended over Europe. An open, blue sky cannot be seen. It seems a gaze toward eternity, toward paradise, is lacking." "Our faith," he continued, "urges us to seek the mystery, the beauty and the truth that gives meaning to life. Unfortunately, Europe […] seems to lack the courage to seek solutions beyond materialist proposals. Perhaps because of this, the number of suicides among youth is increasing." More here.