Building Community from the Ground Up

An Interview with Fr. Charles Peirano about the Springfield Young Adult Community

Fr. Charles Peirano is the parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception Parish in Springfield, Missouri. He is a part of Fontis, the Springfield Young Adult Community. You can learn more about Fontis at www.fontiscatholic.org. 

So how did this new young adult group form?

It seems to my knowledge that there have been many attempts to form a Catholic young adult community in Springfield. When I arrived on the scene in Springfield, several young adults mentioned that they didn’t have any sort of consistent community in town. There were occasional Theology on Tap events and backyard gatherings led by a few young adults, but Fontis, as it is now, really began organically with a simple invitation to gather for First Friday Mass and dinner. The community isn’t specifically associated with any particular parish, but rather led by the young adults, since they all belong to different parishes. 

"My husband and I have made more genuine Catholic friendships in the last year through Fontis than I have in my 3 years of living in Springfield." - member of Fontis

What kind of things has this group done in the Springfield area recently?

Fontis gathers several times a month for prayer, faith formation, and community. Each event involves some aspect of all three of those pillars. For example, we frequently meet for Adoration and confessions, share a meal together, and read and discuss impactful Catholic texts, such as Deus Caritas Est by Pope Benedict XVI and Ecclesia de Eucharistia by St. John Paul II. Most recently in September, we had a social gathering and First Friday Mass, marking a year since the community began. 

What do you think is important to young people in the church today?

Young adults that I’ve encountered in Springfield desire God. They, even without saying it or maybe even knowing it, desire the fullness of the truth and an authentic experience of the Church. They want to encounter Jesus. They want communion with Him and others. They want to be liberated. This is the mission of the Church and more locally, Fontis. To bring about the presence of encounter with the Lord and one another. This leads to a freedom to become who God created us to be. This can come off as just a commonplace idea, but it is the underlying pulse of Fontis’ community

“My experience has been thought provoking and meaningful. I've gone only a few times, but I see real potential in connecting the younger Catholic community.” - member of Fontis

How can we better listen to the voices of young people in the Church?

Having been away at the seminary for the past eight years, I wasn’t really on the ground day in and day out, but in the last year that has changed and so has my perspective. I arrived in Springfield hardly knowing a soul at my parish, let alone Springfield. Little by little, I began to get to know folks and was surprised by many conversations.

Many shared with me that there wasn’t much being offered in Springfield for young adults, leaving them feeling left out of the life of the local and universal Church. There was one couple, when I arrived in Springfield, that shared that they had recently come back to the Church after being away for a period of time. They, in some sense, had fallen prey to the culture of today, but had recently found themselves abandoned by it. They were seeking the truth and knew that the Church was where they needed to go.

Around that same time, the listening sessions for the Synod were taking place, and they decided to attend and share their experience and desires. They shared with me that their experience and desires were met with harshness. Ultimately, no one listened to them at all, and they left for another parish shortly after my arrival. I attended many meetings about the results of the listening sessions and no one ever mentioned anything about what the youth that participated actually desired. I’ve come to believe, unfortunately, this isn’t just my experience, but the experience of so many young people in the local and universal Church.

This particular instance showed me that the couple didn't feel received when they spoke up, so they left. What the Church had done to them metaphorically—pushed them out— they resigned to literally. In my experience, it seems like even just meeting people where they're at with a desire to understand them as humans, not just as people with opposing ideas, opens up the pathways of communication.

So, in short, we can better listen to young people by giving them  opportunities to share their experience in a meaningful way, and consider amicable solutions. Whether that be by fulfilling a need for greater Catechesis on their part, which can sometimes be the case, by inviting them to participate in ministry and events where their voices can make an impact, or just by being open to having an ongoing dialogue over time about the valid concerns they raise.

What are some things that surprised you about these young adults?

When I arrived at my parish last year, I was surprised to find so many people, young and old, that freely and without prompting, shared their desire for reverence at Mass. Which I believe is a prompting of the Holy Spirit! A brother priest recently said something to the effect of:  the Holy Spirit works in marvelous and mysterious ways, and that it seems that a resurgence in the desire amongst people for reverent liturgies is a work of the Holy Spirit, and if people are finding richer union with Christ, may we not get in the way.

Ultimately, this is nothing that I myself or anyone else manufactured, but rather what I found on my arrival to Springfield. Thus, I have tried, to the best of my ability, not to get in the way but rather to facilitate an authentic encounter with Christ. The ultimate source of this desire is exactly that, to be in deeper communion with the Lord in this life. This deeper communion with the Lord and one another through Fontis is already bearing fruit. There are several people that are actively discerning their vocation, whether that is marriage or religious life.

Do you think the culture of the church reflects the aspirations or desires of young people?

This seems like a difficult question to answer in such few words, but I trust that the Lord is at work in the Church. I believe that we have to adopt the style of Pope Francis, in that we cannot look over our shoulders at the culture of division in the Church, but rather to keep moving forward on our path of growing in personal holiness and living out the faith, which has been handed down through the centuries

"Because Fontis isn't tied to one parish, young adults all over Springfield and the surrounding towns feel like they have a place they really belong-- with God and with each other." - member of Fontis

What specific advice would you give to any young people reading this interview?

Keep the Faith. Do not despair. There is one thing that is important: that we grow in personal holiness. That will be the one thing that will change the world.

"Any young adult can tell you that finding a Catholic community that you can continue to learn and grow with after high school and college feels daunting-- especially when the established groups often seem to jump in demographic from youth group to Parish Council. Fontis bridges that gap in Springfield for so many now." - member of Fontis

How can young people begin to feel like they have agency in the church?

There could be a variety of answers, but I believe young people can have agency in the Church by simply being faithful and most importantly, get involved in their local parish.

"As young adults who are discerning our vocations to marriage, priesthood, and religious life, we need continued formation and community more than ever. Fontis is that support we've been looking for." - member of Fontis