SFXC: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

It is a difficult time to be a young adult in our world today. Statistics show that 70–85% of high school students leave the faith when they get to university. For every Catholic who joins the Church, six leave, and 80% of them leave before the age of 23. If your RCIA course brought in 20 people this past Easter, it would also mean that 120 young people left the faith that year. It is a staggering reality to face.

Despite these bleak circumstances, I see the grace of God slowly calling His children back. Even when the world pushes atheism, hedonism, and nihilism, the desire for Truth, Goodness, Beauty, and God can never be fully stifled in the hearts of our young people. God is calling His children, and here at St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy, we are helping them hear and deepen that call in their hearts.

Bishop McGrattan issued an official decree on January 21, 2019 to form the St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy (SFXC) under the leadership of Fr Cristino Bouvette.

What began as a small community of 50 people at St. Bernard’s has now grown to over 200 young people at St. Mary’s Cathedral, with hundreds of alumni now serving their parishes throughout the Diocese of Calgary. SFXC works closely with Catholic Christian Outreach, and we aim to help students know the God who loves them and inspires them to share that same message with others.
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This is precisely the vision of SFXC: to encounter, equip, and evangelize. 

• Encounter: To know the length, breadth, depth, and height of the love of Jesus and His healing power through a reverent celebration of the Mass, Eucharistic adoration, and confession, to name a few.
• Equip: To form young people to become saints by developing their intellect with solid teaching, fostering human virtues, and growing in an intimate spiritual life with the Lord.
• Evangelize: To form their apostolic heart so they see their life as a gift to be shared with others—whether through priestly or religious vocations, through marriage and family life, or especially in their parish communities.

This vision, which began many years ago, has borne much fruit. In just one week, we engage with approximately 200 people! We have 50 of our members formed through intellectual formation, 75 people attending our Wednesday night Mass and Adoration, 50 people at our university Masses, 40 people at our young professionals’ events, 50 people at our Pints with Aquinas gatherings, and over 200 people at our Sunday Mass. Our fellowship events also draw a large crowd, with our opening BBQ bringing in over 150 people, our farewell party for Fr. Cristino welcoming well over 200, and our SFXC Dance hosting over 100 attendees. Additionally, our RCIA program has grown from 11 participants in 2022 to 25 in 2024!

We have an excellent choir that can move you to tears, a hearty band of dedicated altar servers, numerous alumni working in key roles within our diocese, and many vocations to married life, as well as to religious and priestly vocations. One of the greatest blessings of the chaplaincy is that, in the past three years, 6 out of 7 of our seminarians have come from SFXC, with many more discerning the priesthood this year!

But we need your help. These programs have grown so much that they now require a dedicated team to manage and work with our dozens of volunteers. Until now, these programs have been sustained by the generous gifts of so many people. Previously, we only needed to cover programming expenses, but now we also need to support the staff who manage these programs.

We are so grateful to those who have contributed to the mission of SFXC, and we warmly invite you to join us if you’re not yet part of the mission. Consider becoming monthly donor or giving a one time gift. Every contribution makes a difference, and your prayers, donations, and support will ensure that our young people continue to have the opportunity to know the God who loves them.

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Written by Fr. Troy Nguyen, Chaplain of St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy  Photos courtesy of SFXC Calgary.

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