Weeklong Catholic youth program returns this summer

PORTLAND — Hundreds of Maine teens and children can participate this summer in a weeklong Catholic youth program for grades one through 12.

Totus Tuus is scheduled to be presented in 10 Maine communities. The program, organized by the Diocese of Portland’s Office of Vocations, features daily Mass, prayer, classroom teaching, lunch, games and more, according to a news release from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

Teams of men and women, including seminarians and college students, are hired each year and spend the first two weeks of the summer in training. In collaboration with local pastors and parish coordinators, the teams spend the remainder of the summer traveling throughout the diocese conducting the program.

The Maine 2022 Totus Tuus schedule:

June 19-24
St. Joseph Parish, Farmington
St. Mary of the Visitation Parish, Houlton

June 26-July 1
Corpus Christi Parish, Waterville
St. John Vianney Parish, Fort Kent

July 10-15
St. Paul the Apostle Parish, Bangor
Good Shepherd Parish, Saco

July 24-29
St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Westbrook
Parish of the Precious Blood, Caribou

July 31-Aug. 5
Prince of Peace Parish, Lewiston
Christ the Divine Mercy Parish, Millinocket

“Totus Tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt” (“I am totally yours, and all that I have is yours”) begins the episcopal motto of the St. John Paul II. The program, originally developed in the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, has proven to be successful in explaining the teachings of the Catholic Church to young people in both rural and urban settings. Participation in the program has exceeded 200,000 people in the U.S.

“Whereas programs sometimes tend to come out of larger metropolitan archdioceses, this program is really well-suited to smaller parishes in the sense that it’s really an attempt to help provide resources to parishes to do a summer program that they otherwise might not be able to do,” said Fr. Greg Dube, director of the Diocese of Portland’s Office of Vocations and Seminarians. “It has been and continues to be really well received in Maine parishes.”

To apply or to view the 2022 Team Teaching Packet, visit portlanddiocese.org. The deadline to apply for a teaching position this summer is Monday, Feb. 7.