MADRID, SPAIN – -  The English-language version of the 2011 World Youth Day website was launched on Friday. The Web site has been available in Spanish since November. Read the whole Zenit article

LONDON, ENGLAND – - Britain’s national Catholic Youth Ministry Congress will take place in London on Feb. 27. Organizers say they have scheduled some of the best known Catholic speakers for the event, which will also present new research into the life and faith of young Catholics. The Congress, organized by the Catholic Youth Ministry Federation for England and Wales (CYMFed), has as its theme “We have set our hope on the living God.” Over 700 youth leaders, chaplains, teachers and priests have registered to attend. Read the whole Catholic News Agency article.

SAINT ALBERT, ALBERTA, CANADA – - Youth ministers must be able to translate the tradition of the Catholic Church into a language that young people can understand, says Father Stefano Penna. And they must start going online to teach the tradition because that’s where young people are, Penna said. Penna, academic vice president and dean of theology of Newman Theological College, led a retreat for members of the Western Association of Catholic Youth Ministers at their annual conference at the Star of the North Retreat Centre.

Penna said many are using the Internet not just to entertain themselves but also to make connections and to engage in meaningful conversations. Youth ministers should do the same. Most youth ministry in the future will take place online, he predicted. “It might be that youth ministry in the future looks like one meeting a month in the church and six meetings a month in some sort of online space,” he said. “You younger people should be able to mobilize and use that kind of space – not to entertain people but to create connections and to bring the Word of God to young people.”  Read the whole Western Catholic Reporter article.