Grill The Priests! | William Patenaude | CWR
An annual outreach by the Diocese of Providence features food, fun and frank questions with several priests
"Six priests walking into a bar..." could open a joke. But on a Friday night in May, a Dominican and five diocesan priests walked into a Dave and Busters in Providence Place Mall to share a meal with some 150 young people, answer their questions, and witness to the Gospel.
And yes, they occasionally brought the house down with a joke.
“Grill the Priest” is one of many outreach efforts organized by the Diocese of Providence’s Office of Evangelization and Faith Formation. While the intended audience for these question-and-answer events are those in their 20s and 30s, they are open to all—especially if older folks bring a young person who may no longer be practicing their Catholic faith.
Based on similar events in other dioceses, the Providence style of grilling clergy put five priests up front in a theatre-style dining room at a location popular with young people. The clerics sat on bar stools, holding microphones under spot lights, as if they were about to belt out a Frank Sinatra number. But even without song, many in the audience used the word “fun” to describe the event.
“Helpful” was another. Within the confines of the secular, the questions and answers struck to the core of our existence in a fallen world and the salvific activity of an incarnational God who is love.
Proven results
“Young adults take this moment as a great way to invite friends that they know may not be engaged in their faith or parish community,” said Lisa Gulino, whose heads up religious education and evangelization efforts in the Diocese of Providence. She said that several people who attended last year’s event have renewed their commitment to weekly Sunday Mass, and one young man was now coming into the Church.
Monsignor Albert Kenny—the diocese’s Vicar General, Moderator of the Curia, and master of ceremonies at last month’s Grill the Priest—remembers that one young man well. For that event, Monsignor Kenny was up front answering questions. The young man stood and asked whether he should enter the Church. He had been brought up Christian and had been visiting a number of parishes in Rhode Island, but he wasn’t sure if becoming a Catholic was for him.
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