Hundreds of Maine teens and children will have the opportunity to participate in a weeklong Catholic youth program (grades 1-12) dedicated to teaching the Gospel.

Totus Tuus will be presented in 10 Maine communities during the summer of 2022. The program, organized by the Diocese of Portland’s Office of Vocations, leads participants on an age-appropriate encounter with the Catholic faith through dynamic and faith-filled content that inspires young people to live the call of the Gospel in today’s world, according to the diocese. Totus Tuus features daily Mass, prayer, classroom teaching, lunch, games and more.

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 spends the remainder of the summer traveling throughout the diocese conducting the program. To apply or to view the 2022 Team Teaching Packet, visit portlanddiocese.org/vocations/teach-totus-tuus. The deadline to apply for a teaching position this summer is Monday, Feb. 7.

Here is the 2022 Totus Tuus schedule in Maine (all are welcome to register for any location; registration will open soon at portlanddiocese.org/vocations/register-totus-tuus):

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

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 the Rev. 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.”

For more information about Totus Tuus Maine, visit totustuusmaine.org.

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