For more than 50 years, the Father Marot CYO Center has provided young Catholics in the northern part of the diocese with a place for faithful fellowship — a mission made possible by the efforts of figures like Lumen Gentium laureate John Boni, of St. Joseph Parish in Woonsocket. Boni has served as the president of the center’s Board of Directors for more than five years — including an extensive period in which he also volunteered as the Youth Center director.
“It started out as a normal presidency,” Boni explains. Shortly after he had been voted to the position in 2014, a staffing shortage required him to assume duties well beyond the administrative scope. In her nomination form, Louise Dussault, the director of the Diocesan Office of Catholic Youth Ministry, noted that Boni “has led the board and staff through continued challenges and does everything from writing and sending newsletters, thank you letters, database management, and serving lunch on retreats,” adding that his “steadfast courage and devotion are a witness to the depth of his faith in, and passion for, the Lord.”
Boni remembers learning those virtues by working with the late Father Roger Marot, the namesake of the youth center. “Father Marot was absolutely incredible,” Boni remembers. “He had so much energy and he just infused it into everybody that he worked with. He really inspired a sense of service and loyalty in all of us.”
Father Marot founded the center (originally titled the Catholic Youth Organization of Northern Rhode Island) in 1969 to serve the youth of the roughly 40 parishes in the northmost part of the state. Originally, the Center was located in a brick complex on Federal Street in Woonsocket; one of the greatest challenges Boni had to navigate was the decision to relocate. “We really loved the old property, but it wasn’t financially sustainable,” Boni explains. The organization now operates out of the rectory of nearby St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish.
Boni was first appointed to the Center’s Board of Directors in 1990. He says that it provides a vital function for Catholic youth: “It gives them a place where their social life and their spiritual life can come together,” he explains.
Although natives of Bellingham, the Bonis attend Mass “right over the line” at St. Joseph’s in Woonsocket, where Boni also volunteers as a confirmation coordinator.
