“Dear young people, aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less. Then you will see the light of the Gospel grow every day, within you and around you.” — Pope Leo XIV, Peregrinates in Spem, 2025
These words are being taken seriously by the Claretian Missionaries in Canada.
Fr. Reegan Soosai, CMF, and Fr. Olivier Nkwimi, CMF, recognized the urgent need to bring young people closer to the Church. Last Octobre 2025, they launched a youth group — with a clear vision from the start: one place, one day a week, every week. Since then, young people have been gathering every Samedi at St. Charles Garnier Parish in the Secteur des Nations, and what began as a modest initiative has grown into a vibrant community of 30 to 35 youth, ages 12 to 20.
The meetings bring together games, Lectio Divina, pizza, foosball games, dancing, movies, and lively conversation. The Claretians serve five different parishes in the area, and their youth group reflects that diversity beautifully as a mosaic of cultures and languages. All the young people speak French, but many come from different backgrounds: Africa, Iraq, Latin America, and beyond. Yet they share something in common: a sense of belonging and a growing love for God.
“What began as a small gathering has now grown into a community of nearly thirty friends where respect and solidarity are lived out in a concrete way. It is our place of belonging; a much-needed pause where values are not just theory, but something we share between a game of ping-pong, a goal at foosball, and moments of genuine laughter.” — Santiago Bobbia
Fr. Reegan has been genuinely surprised by the questions and reactions from the young people. One Samedi, the group asked: “Who are Jews? What does that mean?” — and were astonished to discover that Jesus himself was Jewish. “We thought he was Christian!” Their curiosity speaks to something deeper, that young people are truly searching.
What Fr. Reegan has found most enriching is watching them grow in confidence. “At the beginning, they didn’t want to participate. They would only say a few words,” he recalls. “Now they love to engage in conversation.” That growth is visible not just in how they talk, but in how they pray, how they treat one another, and how they navigate real-life challenges. The group even works through scenarios together — What do you do when a friend offers you drugs at a party? How do you respond when someone is excluded at school? — helping them discover for themselves the values of forgiveness, solidarity, and courage.
What starts with games becomes prayer. What starts with pizza becomes preparation for the sacraments. The group is growing so steadily that the team is already thinking about splitting into two age-based groups in the fall.
And the vision doesn’t stop in Sherbrooke. There is already a Claretian youth group in Montréal, and a newly formed Latino community group in Sherbrooke led by a lay woman named Joanna, with Fr. Percy supporting when needed. A joint gathering of all three groups is being planned for Mai in Montréal — a sign that something is quietly flourishing.
If you’re in Sherbrooke and looking for a place where you can be yourself, have fun, and find meaning, Santiago Bobbia puts it simply:
“… I assure you that a place is waiting for you here.”
