Your Diocese

ROMEOVILLE— On July 20, the roaring crowd of more than 700 participants in the 2007 Youth Leadership Conference overflowed with unique ways to express Catholicism. Songs of praise were belted out while others chanted, “We love Jesus. Yes we do. We love Jesus. How about you?”

An artist’s palate of brightly colored T-shirts sported by participants filled the Neil Carey Arena of Lewis University in Romeoville. Youth from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Darien chose green T-shirts with the John 10:27 phrase, “Follow Me.” Young representatives from St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Joliet sported blue T-shirts listing rules on how to “Party like a Catholic.” Meanwhile, teens from St. Raphael Parish in Naperville could be identified by the words on their T-shirts: “Got God?”

Wearing his signature jester’s cap and suspenders was Father Mark Fracaro. The pastor of St. Mary Parish in Minooka has participated in some way in all 28 YLCs hosted by the Joliet diocesan Religious Education Office. He commented to the Catholic Explorer, “The thing that strikes me every year and keeps me coming back is when it’s time to pray … They are really into it. They have great fun, but to me, those (prayerful moments) are very, very strong moments.”

The reverence of the students was evident when Bishop J. Peter Sartain stepped up to the podium in the opening ceremony. The deafening music and chanting was silenced as the leader of the diocese blessed water and read Scripture. A few moments later, he shared his own insights on peace with the teens. He said, “The only way we’ll find peace is through Jesus.”

The lighting and stage setup was reminiscent of a rock concert with the bishop’s image enlarged on two giant projection screens for those sitting in the back rows of the large arena. Yet, Bishop Sartain remained humble in offering advice on leadership in the Catholic Church. He emphasized, “Leaders in the church are a bunch of followers (of Jesus.)”