Year of Saint Paul

Pope Benedict opened the Year of Saint Paul on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls. For more information and resources, see the following websites:

• The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls
• The Pauline Year
• The Year of Saint Paul
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
• National Conference for Catechetical Leadership
• Pauline Spirit

Prayer Corner

Cultivate a daily habit of prayer to more fully experience the risen Christ.

• Daily Scripture Readings (USCCB)
• Scripture Reflections: Creighton University
• Sacred Space
• Saint of the Day

Reading Room

Documents of interest to youth ministry leaders.

• Sacraments Today: Belief and Practice among U.S. Catholics (1.4 MB) (5/13/08)
  By Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate
• U.S. Religious Landscape Survey (5/13/08)
  By the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
• Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States. (188 KB)
• Catholic Update: A Look at Pope Benedict's Encyclical: Christ Our Hope
• Doctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for the Development of Catechetical Materials for Young People of High School Age (351 KB)
• Executive Summary of the 2007 National Symposium on Lay Ecclesial Ministry
• Stewardship and Teenagers: The Challenge of Being a Disciple (84 KB)

  Information on religious emblems of other faiths

    PRAY Programs of Religious Activities with Youth Information on religious emblems for most faiths.

"Promoting Duty to God (Religious Emblems)" video developed by PRAY and BSA

Abstinence Education for Teens

The following links are provided to further assist youth ministry leaders in their efforts to catechize youth on the topic of Human Sexuality.

• Humanae Vitae, 1968
• Human Sexuality—USCCB
• Human Sexuality, Wonderful Gift and Awesome Responsibility—Catholic Update
• True Love Waits Website

Catechetical Materials for Youth

• Horizons 9-10th grade
• Sexuality: A Gift With Strings Attached—Youth Update
• Abstinence: Dating but Waiting—Youth Update

True Love Waits—Abstinence Education for Teens

Download NFCYM's True Love Waits Revised Abstinence Resource (PDF 224 KB)

*View the True Love Waits abstinence education materials from the NFCYM.

Pastoral Letters from U.S. Bishops

• Instruction on Chastity
  Bishop James Timlin, 1990.
• Learning to Love in the Lord: Bishop Joseph Dialogues with Young People about the Christian Meaning of Sex.
  Bishop Gerry Joseph, 2001.
• Love and Sexuality: A Pastoral Letter to the Young People of the Diocese of Pittsburgh
  Bishop Donald Wuerl, 1992.
• Of Human Life: A Pastoral Letter to the People of God of Northern Colorado on the Truth and Meaning of Married Love.
  Archbishop Charles Chaput, 1998.
• Pastoral Statement on Marriage, Sexuality, and Chastity.
  Cardinal William Keeler, 2000.