‘And what a Basilian he is!’
Fr. Rosica visits ‘wild west coast,’ old friend Archbishop Miller

By Jeff Graham

Basilian Father Tom Rosica, CEO of Salt and Light Television, is willing to go to the ends of the earth to help Catholic Christian Outreach. The Basilian priest, at the Vancouver Golf Club for the annual CCO fund-raising banquet, expressed his delight at being able to come out west to visit with friends from CCO, and especially with a particular friend in a noteworthy leadership position in the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

Jeff Graham / The B.C. Catholic Father Thomas Rosica, CSB, Bishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, and Brett Powell were at the Vancouver Club in support of Catholic Christian Outreach.

“My previous visits always took place when Basilians were still on campus at the University of British Columbia, so I knew I would have a few friends out on the wild west coast,” said the priest, the CEO of World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002.

“Since our departure from this archdiocese nearly two years ago, Vancouver has once again been the ends of the earth for us; a distant and foreign land,” he joked, “but since August that has changed! Vancouver is once again Basilian-friendly, and what a Basilian he is! You folks lucked out with Archbishop Michael Miller to assist your good shepherd Archbishop Raymond Roussin.”

Archbishops Raymond Roussin, SM, and J. Michael Miller, CSB, were at the club along with other priests and supporters of CCO, a university student movement dedicated to evangelization and leadership development. CCO operates faith studies and outreach events at Douglas College and Simon Fraser University.

Basilians and bishops support CCO

The university-student movement, which has been in Vancouver for nearly 10 years, fits nicely with the Archdiocesan Synod recommendations for promoting evangelization and education by training young people to share their faith boldly, while staying true to the magisterium of the Church. Father Rosica said his experience with CCO has left an impression on him.

“Your theme this evening is The Face of CCO, and I am delighted to share with you how I have discovered the beauty of this face, and the light it sheds on our country,” he said. “Along with many other movements, CCO has become a true laboratory of faith and an authentic school of Christian life, holiness, and mission for thousands of young Catholics across Canada.”

“Catholic Christian Outreach is characterized by a wide variety of methods and educational approaches of extraordinary effectiveness, and what is the motivation behind its pedagogical strength?

“CCO’s formation has as its departure point a deep conversion of heart,” he continued. “For some, the conversion of heart is often a gradual process which takes time. For others, the conversion is an unexpected and all-encompassing lightning-bolt experience.”

Father Rosica said what he found refreshing about CCO was that these encounters with Christ are not just talked about, or written about, but are actively facilitated.

In CCO, evangelization is an action, he said, not a topic of conversation. This evangelization is facilitated through the support of donors who sponsor staff members of CCO with monthly donations that allow them to work full-time on campus. CCO’s financial operation is similar to that of groups like Campus Crusade for Christ and other Protestant missionary organizations.

In fact, the inspiration for CCO came from Campus Crusade when CCO’s founder, Andre Regnier, saw a need for groups on campuses for Catholics. In 1988 CCO started at the University of Saskatchewan. It subsequently spread to Ottawa, Halifax, Kingston, Regina, and Vancouver, and now has over 40 staff members, all of whom raise their own salaries.

The purpose of the evening at the Vancouver Club was to appeal to the generosity of individuals in Vancouver to help CCO to host events, pay salaries, and send students to conferences and World Youth Days.

“In today’s Church there is much talk of evangelization: congresses, symposiums, seminars, mission statements, documents, and even books on the topic abound; but the talk and documents are not translated so quickly into action. There is a difference with CCO; it talks but it also acts boldly, decisively, and in a timely way.”

CCO offers faith studies and hosts two monthly events called Cornerstone, which is a catechesis event, and Summit, which is a Eucharistic adoration event. Both target university-aged people, and according to Father Rosica, these events are helping to bring forth the new life in the Church that Pope John Paul II continually called for during his pontificate.

“CCO represents this new generation of builders. They are ready and willing to take up the challenge. They are present here in Vancouver and in many other cities, in university and college campuses throughout this vast land, giving witness to the marvels that the Lord is doing in our midst.”

More information on CCO is available at http://vancouver.cco.ca.