CHRISTMAS Island's asylum seekers, many having fled traumatic situations in their home countries, will soon have more structured pastoral care from the Church.

KINGSTON, Ontario (CNS): Groups of Anglicans entering into communion with the Catholic Church will not be absorbed the way "a teaspoon of sugar would be lost in a gallon of coffee", Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith prefect Cardinal William Levada said.

Padua College, at Kedron in Brisbane, chose an "extreme" experience for its Year 12 students to start the year in a different and challenging way in 2010. It proved to be a weekend the young men would not easily forget, as journalist SELINA VENIER reports

THE goosebumps Mariana Passeggi Romagnoli said she felt during World Youth Day week in Sydney in July, 2008, are certain to return when she joins the WYD pilgrimage to Spain in 2011.

SIENA Catholic College, Sippy Downs, has introduced a mentorship program pairing students with mentors from their choice of future career.

MONSIGNOR Paul McPartlan won't mind foregoing the northern summer for a winter in the southern hemisphere.

LOVE HAPPENS

CHARLEVILLE'S Fr Peter Doohan spent the past week as a guest at the local Anglican rectory while his presbytery dries out in the wake of floods which have devastated towns throughout Queensland's south-west.

IVORRA, Spain (Zenit.org): The Holy See is granting a jubilee year to celebrate the Eucharistic miracle that took place a thousand years ago in the tiny town of Ivorra, in north-eastern Spain.

St Padre Pio, the Italian saint who died on September 23, 1968, has inspired many around the world and drawn them to prayer, including one group of devoted followers at Wynnum on Brisbane's bayside. Journalist PAUL DOBBYN has witnessed their fervour

IN a first, the Challenge girls have headed out with the Conquest boys on Brisbane's southside.

SIX student leaders from Our Lady's College, Annerley, and Mary MacKillop College, Nundah recently returned from a special leadership course in Sydney.

HE may have been honoured with an Order of Australia on January 26, but Brisbane man Henry Smerdon doubts it'll allow him to access "the express lane at the gates of heaven".

GREEN ZONE

Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdalla, and Jason Isaacs.

Directed: Paul Greengrass.

Rated M (mature themes, violence, and coarse language). 115 min.