OTTAWA (CCN)-Three young Catholic women from Ottawa are among a group of young people 35 and under who are preparing to defend the faith, the Church and the Pope in the public square.

Danielle Breffitt, a Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) missionary in

communications; Katherine Church, a physiotherapist, and Sarah Du Broy a

communications officer for the Ottawa archdiocese participated in the first

of five training sessions offered by the Salt and Light Media Foundation.

They joined about 20 participants from Ontario and the Salt and Light TV

staff for sessions led by Salt and Light's CEO Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, who

was CEO of the 2002 World Youth Day in Toronto, is consultor on the

Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, English-language

assistant to the Holy See Press Office, and a member of the Social

Communications Commission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"Everyone in there was really solid," said Breffitt.

"It was very life-giving to be in that setting," said Church of the training

at Salt and Light.

"It has become more and more obvious to us at Salt and Light that there is a

very distinct need for articulate persons to explain the significance of the

massive Papal transition we experienced last year and what Pope Francis is

writing, saying and doing," said Rosica.

The training sessions originated in a proposal made in 2013 to the Assembly

of Catholic Bishops of Ontario (ACBO) and later to the Canadian Conference

of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).  Rosica said the Ontario bishops were invited to

recommend four or five young adults from their respective dioceses to

participate in the meeting.  The first training session in April attracted

about 20 young people from seven Ontario dioceses and two ecclesial

movements.

The first session in early April, took place before the canonizations of

Popes John XXIII and John Paul II, which was highlighted as the type of

event young people could prepare themselves to speak about for the media.

Rosica stressed the importance of the young people's being "proactive, and

not in a constant reactive mode to various challenges and ecclesial crises."

The group-in-training has been called "Catholic Perspectives" to maintain a

"unique Canadian identity," Rosica said. He noted the success of similar

groups such as Catholic Voices UK and Catholic Comment Ireland that prepared

young, lay Catholics to comment to the media in advance of Pope Benedict's

2010 visit to the UK and the 2012 International Eucharistic Congress in

Dublin.   Rosica said he met with the leaders of both groups. "One of the

key things I learned was the group must be fundamentally led by lay people."

Rosica said the young people must subscribe to Catholic teaching and "want

to share the Catholic worldview in an open, confident, friendly and

respectful way."

Du Broy said if media contact a diocese they might prefer to talk to

ordinary Catholics who are well-informed rather than a bishop or a priest.

Though they would not claim to represent the diocese officially, Du Broy

outlined a number of discussion areas the young people hope to be able to

speak about if asked:  same-sex marriage and how young adults interpret or

misinterpret it; Pope Francis' words, homilies and gestures; the meaning of

mercy; the case for marriage; how young adults respond to Church scandals;

the Theology of the Body; big events such as World Youth Days and how to

reach out to young adults not part of it; the role of women in the Church;

understanding various rites and sacraments;  the role of clergy and

religious; and why they choose to follow the teachings of the Church.

Church said their being young adults might make listeners and viewers "more

forgiving if we put our foot in our mouths."

But opportunities to evangelize do not just come through the media, Church

said.   Any time there is a possibility to evangelize at work, among

friends, "you have to think before you answer," she said, noting how Pope

Francis makes his message "stick" by being simple and clear.

"The Church believes what might not be popular," said Breffitt.  But the

Holy Spirit is "behind us" when we express our faith.  "We don't have to be

afraid."

"We always need to pray when we are asked questions," said Du Broy. "We have

to pray before we answer."

"It's about witnessing, not winning an argument," said Breffitt.

Breffitt said they know on many of the topics they would have to seek advice

and do some brushing up before appearing on the media so they "don't say

something not correct."

They said they appreciated the fact Rosica and the Salt and Light team have

made themselves available as resources.

"We always have more to learn," said Church.

The training gave them practical tips on how to approach being interviewed,

punctuated with examples from Rosica's experience fielding interviews on the

resignation of Pope Benedict and the election of Pope Francis.

"We need to ask a lot of questions before saying, 'Yes,'" said Church. Those

questions could include who is doing the interview; will other people be

present in the room; what angle is the journalist pursuing.

Take time to pray and seek support and resources before agreeing, she said.

Preparing ahead with some key phrases that distill your message helps, said

Breffitt.

Breffitt grew up in Ottawa, went to church as a child, but stopped when in

middle school. In Grade 10 or 11 she was invited to a Catholic youth group.

It was there she had the opportunity to experience God's love for her.  "I

made a personal decision to follow the Lord at 16," she said.  She served

for two years as a missionary for NET Ministries, and then joined CCO where

she has entered her third year.

"I've been seeing peoples' lives change," Breffitt said. "That definitely

helps me in my faith.  Faith isn't lived unless it's shared."

Though about two thirds of young adults leave the Catholic Church at or

after university, Breffitt credits having a strong Catholic community for

cementing her faith and challenging her to be "a missionary disciple."

Church, a cradle Catholic, was 16 years old when the principal of her school

asked her to help out when the World Youth Day Cross came to Ottawa.  She

didn't realize she would have to play the part of Mother Elizabeth Bruyère,

wearing a costume and delivering some lines in front of 18,000 people at the

Canadian Tire Centre.  The WYD cross was on centre ice on a revolving

platform.  The only way she could deliver her monologue was to cling to the

cross so she would not fall off, she said.

She felt extremely shaky, but this event cured her of any fear of speaking

in public, she said.  When she went to WYD later in Toronto, she was

standing with her mother as the WYD Cross went by.  "Hey, that's your

cross," her mother said.  She remembers thinking, "That's the cross that

saved me," but realizing "it was so much more."

Going to Toronto again for the media training moved her so much and "set her

on fire," so she traveled to Rome to attend the canonizations of John Paul

II and John XXIII.  "It was like being at World Youth Day all over again,"

she said, especially to mark the canonization of Saint John Paul "who

changed my life and made [faith] so vibrant for young people.

Du Broy experienced a deep conversion at the age of eight when her parents

took her to a charismatic prayer meeting.   Her mother noticed how she was

responding and told her to close her eyes and ask God to come into her

heart.  She felt God's presence very powerfully and kept going to Mass and

staying involved in the Church, going on to get a degree in journalism at

the University of Ottawa. "I always knew I would work for the Church in

media," she said.

"God wants what's best for us," Du Broy said. "His teachings are for our

good."