Niagara priest summer chaplain at CFB Borden

Niagara priest summer chaplain at CFB Borden

by Alison Langley - Niagara Falls Review

Father Stephen Bruzzese has taken a summer sabbatical of sorts from his duties as parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Scapular Roman Catholic Church.

But that doesn't mean he's not continuing his mission to serve.

He's spending his summer as a chaplain at the Blackdown Cadet Training Centre at Canadian Forces Base Borden.

Located in Simcoe County, Blackdown is Canada's largest cadet training centre with more than 3,000 young people participating in training courses each summer.

Bruzzese is part of a team of five multi-denominational chaplains who look after the spiritual and emotional needs of not only the cadets, but also those of the adult staff.

The 28-year-old Saint Michael High School graduate has been involved with the cadets corps since he was a teenager.

"One of my friends came in to our Grade 8 class and gave a presentation on the cadet program and I immediately said, 'I want to join that,'" he recalled.

In 2009, having aged out of the cadet program, he enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces as a cadet instructor.

While studying at St. Philips Seminary and later moving to St. Augustine's Seminary, both in Toronto, he worked as an instructor with two Toronto-area cadet corps.

When he was ordained in May 2017, he returned to Niagara Falls — and he also returned to the 2835 56th Field Artillery Regiment Cadet Corps of the Royal Canadian Army.

He is currently a cadet instructor with the corps unit, which meets at the Niagara Military Museum on Victoria Avenue.

"I'm now an officer in the unit I was cadet in," he said. "It's pretty awesome to be in that position."

Bruzzese says the skills and knowledge he learned as a cadet have been instrumental in developing him into the person he is today.

"The qualities of being a good citizen and leadership, discipline and physical fitness, all the sorts of things the cadet program offered have really influenced my life both as an officer and as a priest," he said.

He said the cadet program also helped him to develop self-confidence and leadership skills that have not only help him as a Canadian Armed Forces officer, but in his ministry as well.

"Giving homilies each weekend to a congregation of a thousand people who come through the door has been made easier by the time I spent learning how to do presentations as a cadet," he said.

His work with the cadet program has also strengthened his ability to connect with the young people at his parish.

"It gives me a different skill set, to be able to talk to them at their level, but also, to understand what they're going through and to be with them and guide them and help them journey along that path of being a teenager," he said.

Major Eleanor Clitheroe, senior chaplain at Blackdown, said Bruzzese's experiences as a cadet, cadet instructor and Catholic priest allows him to relate to the cadets in unique way which has been "a big help ministering to both the cadets and staff here."

While Bruzzese is using his vacation days to attend the training centre, many employers across Canada give reservists time off to complete military training and taskings.

"We're grateful to employers for giving staff time off and leave from their civilian jobs to come and serve," said Lt. Stephen La Salle, unit public affairs spokesman at the training centre.