CALEDON, ONT. - There’s no such thing as Catholicism for the few. Catholic means universal, and Secular Franciscans declared their intention to take their message out to the known universe as they inaugurated a new fraternity at the first ever Franciscan Family Fest at Mt. Alverno Retreat Centre June 24.

Deacon Michael Robertson is one of the founders of the new group of lay Franciscans. He describes it as “a new option to offer people who might want to take their spiritual life beyond the norm.”

Young and Catholic? That's not good enough for the latest Catholic youth group to start up in English-speaking Canada. For YouFra, the youth wing of the Secular Franciscans, you have to want to change the world — starting with yourself.

"It's about being with and being together and doing together," said YouFra member Kendal Freeman.

The 24-year-old master's student at Antioch University in New Hampshire was attracted to YouFra because she found in St. Francis somebody willing to talk about how the world is and how the world should be.