A Dream Come True, in Service of the Church

Justin Fannon, a junior at Xaverian Brothers High School, distinctly remembers the day that Pope Francis was elected. It was March 13, 2013 and he was home from school that day, sick with an asthma attack. The memory stands out because March 13 is also Justin’s birthday. He recalls watching the proceedings from Rome on his television and knowing that someday, he wanted to meet Pope Francis.

Fast forward to 2022 and Justin is an active member of his parish church, Holy Name in West Roxbury. During the summer he earned the prestigious honor of being selected for a two-year term on the National Youth Advisory Council. This selective council is composed of only 12 young people from across the nation. Their input informs the work of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) with the aim of empowering “youth to activate their voices and gifts as members of the Church” (nfcym.org).

 

For Justin, his service is born of frustration with declining youth participation in the Catholic Church. He wants to see a change, and he wants to be a part of it. “Our faith, the Catholic Church itself, seems to be dwindling away from us,” says Justin. “There’s no more participation. People blame COVID, but we need to stop doing that. Personally, I think the Church helps people. It helped me navigate through a lot in my life. I want everyone to have that, because the Church isn’t as intimidating as kids might think. It’s a welcoming place.”

 

Justin was drawn to youth ministry because of the example of his older brother. He looked on with envy and awe as his big brother took off each week to his parish’s Youth Service Project meetings with a large group of his peers. That’s why Justin joined the same Church group when he was old enough, only for COVID to hit and the activity of the group to grind to a halt. However, his youth minister, Jim Flanagan, saw something in Justin. It was he who suggested that Justin consider serving on the NYAC, and it was through that service that Justin had the chance to make his dream from March 13, 2013 a reality.

This October, Justin and his fellow delegates on the NYAC traveled to Rome for an audience with Pope Francis. They met with the Pope’s advisors in iconic St. Peter’s Square. They went to Mass at the altar in front of St. Peter’s tomb. And after Mass, they were blessed with a general audience with Pope Francis, during which the Pope encouraged them to bring joy to the world and keep joy alive in the Church. “That stuck with me for the next two days, walking around Italy, thinking about the Pope’s message,” says Justin. “I was asking myself, ‘How can I do that? Where? How do I even start?’”

 

After the general audience, the delegates had the opportunity to personally meet the Pope, shake his hand, and, as representatives for all Catholic youth in America, share their hopes for the Church with the Holy Father. What they want to see, they said, is a welcoming community and safe spaces within the Church for youth to express themselves freely. In November, Justin and his fellow delegates traveled to Long Beach, California for the National Catholic Youth Conference. There they shared the Pope’s message of joy and their hopes for the Church with an audience of thousands of Catholic teens. Only a few months into his term, leadership in the NYAC has given Justin once-in-a-lifetime opportunities on an international scale, and he’s grateful for it.

 

“Meeting the Pope and shaking his hand changed my life forever. I recognize the opportunities I have been given, and it’s helped me develop a real sense of gratitude for everything I have. I’ve learned that it’s easy in life to focus on what I don’t have; but now I want to focus on what I can give, because so much has been given to me.”