Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was born on the 2nd of January 1873 and died in 1897, she is also referred to as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. Therese was a French Carmelite nun and she is also referred to as the “The Little Flower of Jesus”.

……

Representatives from Brazil's museums and cultural centres met with the WYD Local Organising Committee last month, to begin discussing the cultural agenda for pilgrims attending World Youth Day 2013 in Rio!

……

After leading the Exodus Encounter with close to 100 young people, His Eminence Cardinal George Pell will be leading a group to the beautiful city of Lima for a unique mission experience before attending World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro.

……

With less than one year to go, registration packages for World Youth Day 2013 will be released any day now! To find out how you can register, the WYD team in Rio has released a 'Registration FAQ' information page on their website. Check it out here!

……

Blessed Isidore Bakanja was born in 1887 in Belgian Congo in Africa, which is now called Democratic Republic of Congo. He was baptized on 6th May 1906 at age 18 after receiving instruction from Trappists missionaries. Isidore worked on a Belgian rubber plantation, but was subjected to brutal treatment from his supervisors, many of whom were very anti-Catholic.

……

Harvest WYD Tours, the Official Australian Tour Operator for WYD 2013, is excited to announce the launch of its new website for WYD Rio!

……

Students from Sydney's Catholic schools will have a new "app experience" as they prepare for the world's largest gathering of young people - WYD2013 in Rio. Launched by the Archdiocese of Sydney's Catholic Education Office (CEO), the interactive app will keep students up-to-date with the latest information about Rio where up to four million young people are expected to gather for one week at the end of July next year. The WYD13 CEO App can be downloaded for free from the App Store.

……

As we approach World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Catholics around the world are starting to speculate who will be hosting the next World Youth Day, which is expected to take place in 2016. The cities on top of list include Krakow in Poland, London in the UK, and Seoul in South Korea. Watch this video for more!

The Church in Rio de Janeiro said locals welcome with open arms – like the massive statue of Christ the Redeemer that overlooks the city – the young people who will visit for World Youth Day in 2013. “We are awaiting all the young people with open hearts, with our arms open,” Archbishop Orani Joao Tempesta said in an interview with Vatican Radio.

……

Saint Sebastian died in the year 288. He was a Christian saint and martyr, who is said to have been killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians. He is commonly depicted in art and literature as tied to a tree and shot with arrows. This is the most common artistic depiction of Sebastian; however, he did not die from this event he lived to tell the tale and was nursed back to health by Irene of Rome, when he was back to full health he was clubbed to death sometime later for criticising the emperor. Saint Sebastian is venerated in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

……