In a study released June 29 by the Pew Research Center, it was reported that 25 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 identified themselves as being atheists, agnostics or having no religion.

It would have been tough to prove that on the streets of downtown Peoria on a recent Friday night, when more than 50 teens and young adults gathered at St. Mary’s Cathedral for Stations of the Cross and then processed to Sacred Heart Church for eucharistic adoration. Accompanied by friends and family members, they carried a large wooden cross with them, praying for the people of the city as they went.

The participants of the first-ever Eagle Eye Summer Conference, sponsored by the Community of St. John in Princeville, drew curious glances as people left their offices and restaurants or headed to the riverfront for one of the city’s summer festivals. When told what they were doing, one passerby said he might join them for prayer at Sacred Heart.

Among the onlookers were several police officers, who caught up with the young people when they stopped for a meditation and prayer on the lawn outside the Peoria Civic Center. Assured that the Brothers of St. John had obtained the necessary permission to gather there, the officers relaxed a bit but continued to watch the young people gathered around the cross.

That opportunity to witness to their faith was a key element of the Eagle Eye Summer Conference, according to Father Nathan Cromly, CSJ.

“We wanted to take the traditional forms of our faith and then show all of the power that is present there. In order to do that you have to go to the city and take a cross and do meditations from the heart,” said Father Nathan, who coordinated the conference.

The procession allowed the teens and young adults to demonstrate their pride in their faith in a way that was not political but still very powerful, he told The Catholic Post.

“We wanted to make them more aware of the need to pray and remember the people in their own town,” Father Nathan explained. “They touched something deeper because they touched the person of Jesus they were bearing witness to.”

The theme for the conference, which was held June 18-21 at the Community of St. John in Princeville, was taken from John 10: “I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

The Community of St. John hopes to continue the conference each year. For more information about Eagle Eye Formation, which includes a school of evangelization, weekend retreats and summer institutes, visit www.soaringforwisdom.com.