After many months of preparation,  exploration,  and planning,  the Diocese is ready to launch  the brand  new St. Francis  Xavier  Chaplaincy  Centre  for Catholic  outreach  to young adults!   For the last 2 weekends, we have made you aware that St. Bernard’s church has been chosen as the spiritual home and host facility for this chaplaincy centre. It will be led by Fr. Cristino Bouvette, our diocesan vocations director. Last Sunday (Jan.13th),  we had an orientation open house at St. Bernard’s following Mass, and it was well attended where many good questions, comments, and positive feedback were shared.

A few basic points about the Chaplaincy Centre:  It will operate independently from our regular parish operations, including finances, while using St. Bernard’s Church as its hub. It  will  be  independent  from  other  organizations  like  CCO  or  the  U  of  C  Catholic Community  on campus, but will work closely with them in partnership,  along with our parish community. It will be open to all young adults 18 years and up, with a special focus on post-secondary  students  from any Calgary campus,  during and just following  their studies.    Over the next year, as momentum builds, our parish will benefit from an influx of Catholic young people who will be discovering, expressing, and living out their faith in preparation for the rest of their lives as members of the Church! I foresee this as being uplifting to our parish in the long run.

Fr. Matthew Emmelkamp.