Morning Catholic must-reads: 19/08/11

Benedict XVI urged hundreds of thousands of young people to build their lives on solid rock at a welcoming ceremony in the Plaza de Cibeles yesterday (full text, video, photos).

Police in Madrid have foiled a plan by gay and lesbian protesters to stage a kiss-in as the Popemobile passed by.

Parishes in Ireland have reported a 15 per cent fall in incomes because of the recession and abuse scandals, reports the Irish Times.

Marco Tosatti considers why Benedict XVI chose Cardinal Angelo Scola to lead the Archdiocese of Milan.

Fr Ray Blake says that Richard Dawkins was responsible for bringing at least one lapsed Catholic back to the Church during last year’s papal visit to Britain.

Amy Welborn celebrates “a hidden gem of English-language Catholic literature”.

And Deacon James Bradley, a member of the world’s first Personal Ordinariate for groups of ex-Anglicans, sang the Gospel at yesterday’s papal Mass.