$1.00
FEBRUARY 17, 2011 Volume LXXXV • Number 15 www.evangelist.org
CATHOLIC SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT
Seminarian’s Diary
A day in the life of Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady: Page 20
A future priest for the Albany Diocese talks about learning to bring your deepest feelings to God in prayer: Page 9
T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E D I O C E S E O F A L B A N Y ANALYSIS
HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU
Boosting young adult ministry BY CASEY NORMILE INTERN
TWO EVENTS HIGHLIGHT what Catholics might find while traveling around the Albany Diocese: above left, Crestina Smith taste-tests during a chili cook-off at Our Lady of Hope parish in Fort Plain; above right, Dan McCrea and his son, Jacob, listen to the readings at a family Mass at St. Jude’s in Wynantskill. For more on both, see pages 10-11. (Nate Whitchurch photos) NEXT STEPS
Many possible paths for post-Mubarak Egypt BY PATRICIA ZAPOR
C AT H O L I C N E WS S E RV I C E
Washington — After the 18day “revolution” of public protests that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Feb. 11, the path ahead for the nation is a blank slate, with a wide range of political and economic paths possible, according to an expert on Egypt at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. As news was still getting out about Mubarak’s resignation, Patrick Mason, research associ-
ate professor at the institute and its “Contending Modernities” program, told Catholic News Service he thinks that Egypt’s way forward will be a form of civic nationalism that transcends ethnic, religious or other cultural identities. The tone set during the weeks of protests in Tahrir Square in Cairo and in other locales was one of cross-differences collaboration, where the unifying point among the tens of thousands of
activists was that of being Egyptian, not whether one was Muslim, Christian, Arab or some other type of identification, Mason observed. That is a hopeful sign for the country’s beleaguered Coptic Christian minority, said Mason. Scenes from the protests of Christians forming a human shield between praying Muslims in the square and outMANY POSSIBLE PATHS FOR POSTMUBARAK EGYPT, SEE PAGE 13
The typical youth ministry meeting at a parish is structured. Teens are taught about a particular topic of faith and then given time to discuss it and ask questions. Sessions are meant to be fun, informative and organized. However, when David Stagliano, coordinator of youth ministry for the Albany Diocese, gathered a group of 20- and 30somethings together for young adult ministry, he knew he had to try something different. Instead of teaching young adults as if they were teens, he simply asked, “What do you guys want to know?” “The important thing is to remember that, although they’re young, the college and post-college-age group of our Church are still adults and need to be treated that way,” explained Mr. Stagliano. “We can still teach the same faith, but it needs to be done in a different way.” For decades, the Church across the U.S. has been frustrated by the absence of young adults from the pews. After confirmation, many Catholics fade from practicing the faith, only to reappear when they marry and have children. Now, fresh attention is being paid to young adults in the Albany Diocese. Holy Spirit parish in Gloversville has started a program for the 20- and 30somethings; St. Mary’s in Glens BOOSTING YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY, SEE PAGE 18