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“I’ve witnessed the most amazing thing in my life — 24,000 kids kneeling and staring at the Eucharist. … This will change my life.”
| Andrew Hawes, a 15-year-old from the Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky., who attended this year’s National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis. The Nov. 19-21 event drew thousands of young Catholics and adults who took part in workshops, eucharistic adoration, daily Mass and other activities. (Catholic News Service)
In the news
Revealing Mary’s worldwide appeal
WASHINGTON— Maureen Orth, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine who has written about music icons, world leaders and Hollywood celebrities, tackled a completely different subject for National Geographic magazine: the Virgin Mary.
For the magazine’s December cover story, “Mary the most powerful woman in the world,” Orth visited several countries and interviewed dozens of people with strong devotional ties to Mary — including from those who claim to have seen her, those who believe her intercession has healed them and those seeking her spiritual guidance and intercession.
In the magazine’s Washington office Nov. 24, Orth said what made the biggest impression on her while interviewing people for the article was Mary’s universal appeal across diverse cultures.
The Muslim appreciation of Mary, as a “holy woman of God,” she told Catholic News Service, “is a bridge that ought to be explored,” especially in this time of strife caused by religious extremism. (CNS)
Saints under 40
Prayer and profession
St. Richard Pampuri, born in Trivolzio, Italy, in 1897, was a medical doctor who never lost sight of his Catholic faith. In fact, when he decided to leave his practice to become a religious, he chose an order focused on medicine so he could continue to apply his expertise to people in need.
St. Richard unfortunately suffered from delicate health, which forced him as a child to abandon his wish to become a missionary priest. Still, he treated patients as a doctor at Pavia University with endless energy and generosity, and was active in a number of faith-based groups.
When St. Richard was 32 he came down with a respiratory illness that would ultimately claim his life. His sanctity was recognized soon after his death, and he was canonized in 1989. (vatican.va)
