Catholic Christian Outreach Canada (CCO) is a Catholic missionary organization that is present at several Canadian universities. It seeks to bring students into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, equip them to live in the fullness of the Catholic faith, and build them up as leaders in evangelization.
CCO's Mission Statement: CCO is a Catholic movement raising up Christ-centred, Spirit-filled leaders to evangelize the world one person at a time. CCO’s mission, rooted on university campuses, includes alumni, parishes, dioceses, and other key church and global partners.
History CCO was founded in 1988 by André and Angèle Regnier at the University of Saskatchewan. The Regniers had participated in Evangelical activities with Campus Crusade for Christ at the University of Saskatchewan and were inspired by the zeal and devotion they found there, and they wanted to see a similar zeal within the Catholic Church. They found this zeal in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, whose spiritual disposition they adopted in their approach to evangelization. They collaborated with their parish priest to develop CCO as a faith outreach program to bring this approach to Catholic university students, helping them to grow in their faith and learn to share it with others.
In 1992 CCO became an incorporated non-profit organization with its headquarters in Saskatoon; its headquarters moved to Ottawa in 2006.
Current campuses CCO began with four missionaries at the University of Saskatchewan. it had expanded to over 126 staff at headquarters and sixteen universities and has plans to expand by 20 campuses between 2008 and 2028.
British Columbia Year University City 1998 Simon Fraser UniversityVancouver, British Columbia 2008 University of British ColumbiaVancouver, British Columbia 2014 University of VictoriaVictoria, British Columbia Alberta Year University City 2010 University of CalgaryCalgary, Alberta 2014 Mount Royal UniversityCalgary, Alberta Saskatchewan Year University City 1988 University of SaskatchewanSaskatoon, Saskatchewan Manitoba Year University City 2017 University of WinnipegWinnipeg, Manitoba Ontario Year University City 1997 Carleton UniversityOttawa, Ontario 2000 University of OttawaOttawa, Ontario 2007 Queen's UniversityKingston, Ontario 2013 Ryerson UniversityToronto, Ontario 2018 Trent UniversityPeterborough, Ontario2021Brock UniversitySt. Catharines, Ontario Quebec Year University City 2016 Concordia UniversityMontreal, Quebec Nova Scotia Year University City 2004 Dalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova Scotia 2010 Saint Mary's UniversityHalifax, Nova Scotia Newfoundland and Labrador Year University City 2015 Memorial UniversitySt. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Former campuses Year University City 1994 University of ReginaRegina, Saskatchewan 2003 Douglas CollegeVancouver, British Columbia 2004 Capilano CollegeVancouver, British Columbia 2009 Laval UniversityQuebec City, Quebec
Methods and materials Students involved with CCO lead and attend weekly faith studies on campus. These faith studies help students learn more about their faith and how they can live it out. The material references Scripture verses from the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and other Christian writings. They also employ analogies, useful in sharing spiritual realities in common terms. The studies are intended to fuel discussion in a comfortable, small group setting. The five studies are called Discovery, Source, Growth, Trust, and Commission.
Another method of evangelism used by CCO is on-campus events for large groups of students. One-on-one ministry training and leadership opportunities are available. Students attend retreats, recreational events, and other social and prayer related activities as well.
CCO has created a booklet entitled The Ultimate Relationship which serves as an introduction to basic Christian faith. This booklet has been translated into over a dozen languages, and one million copies were printed and distributed at World Youth Day 2016 in Kraków, Poland.
Rise Up
CCO organizes an annual Christmas conference called "Rise Up". It is the second-largest Catholic conference for youth in Canada (behind Steubenville Toronto), and drew 850 participants to the 2013 conference in Ottawa.
Rise Up takes place every year from December 28 to January 1. It includes presentations, workshops, mass, live worship, adoration, reconciliation, and a New Year's banquet and dance. It is designed to deepen students' spiritual life and to motivate them to share their faith with others.
Mission projects
CCO has facilitated several domestic and overseas missions throughout its existence, and has attended several World Youth Days.
IMPACT Canada The annual IMPACT mission consists of students from across Canada gathering in one city for a summer of missionary work. Participants live in community and are assigned to teams at various parishes, where they lead faith studies and organize retreats and special events. Impact also features a weekly event called Cornerstone that involves skits, worship, testimonies, and Catholic teaching, a Courageous Catholic program that teaches people how to share their faith, and a monthly Summit event involving worship, Eucharistic adoration, and Reconciliation.
+Impact Locations Year City 1999 Ottawa, Ontario 2002 Ottawa, Ontario 2004 Halifax, Nova Scotia 2007 Vancouver, British Columbia 2009 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 2010 Calgary, Alberta 2011 Ottawa, Ontario 2012 Halifax, Nova Scotia 2014 Victoria, British Columbia 2015 Vancouver, British Columbia 2018 Vancouver, British Columbia
Other missions Every Spring and Summer, CCO missionaries lead teams of students on foreign or domestic missions. The purpose of these trips is to help share the gospel in other areas, equip the locals on how to share their faith, and to build up the student participants in their confidence and love for Jesus.
Mission locations Year Region2012India 2012 Uganda 2014 Yukon 2015 British Columbia 2016 Brazil 2016 Poland 2016-19 Mexico 2017 Malaysia 2017-19 Honduras 2019 Cameroon 2019 St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador 2019 New York City 2019 Panama 2019 Scotland2022Kelowna2022Belize2022Montreal 2023 Halifax 2023 Uganda 2023 Portugal
See also Fellowship of Catholic University Students Saint Paul's Outreach References
External links Official website