Students pledge 500,000-plus community service hours as gift to pope

Published: 2008-04-03

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- More than 500,000 community service hours have been pledged by Catholic school students and other Catholic youths in honor of Pope Benedict XVI's 81st birthday. The pope's birthday is April 16, the second day of his six-day visit to the United States. Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl, announced the number of pledged hours March 25 during opening remarks at the National Catholic Educational Association's convention in Indianapolis. "We're still working on the details, but we hope to present these hours to the Holy Father in a public forum during his visit and we're confident that this will be a gift that he will long remember and treasure," the archbishop said. The project is called "Birthday Blessings for Pope Benedict XVI: A Gift of Public Service From U.S. Catholic Youth and Students." It includes service projects conducted between Feb. 25 and May 31. NCEA has established a Web site, http://ncea.catholic.org, to help schools, parishes and individuals learn more about the effort and to register their volunteer hours. Students must register for the project through an online pledge form by April 11; hours are to be completed by May 31.

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