A blog post Fr. Troy Nguyen, Chaplain of St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy in the diocese of Calgary.

It is a difficult time to be a young adult in our world today. Statistics show that 70 to 85 per cent of high school students leave the faith when they get to university. For every Catholic who joins the Church, six leave, and 80 per cent 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. 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 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…to help students know the God who loves them and inspires them to share that same message with others.​This is precisely the vision of SFXC: to encounter, equip, and evangelize. 

This vision…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. In the past three years, six out of seven of our seminarians have come from SFXC, with many more discerning the priesthood this year.