July 16, 2025

North Country Catholic

Though he’s busy pursuing a college degree, completing internships and maintaining a regular young adult life, Christian Gratto has stepped up to offer his time and talents to helping bring the Church and Camp Guggenheim to others through engaging digital and social media.

Gratto, 20, said he became interested in film and communications through high school coursework, and he first found a way to use those skills to help the Church during the 2020 pandemic.

“During COVID, I reached out to Father (L. William) Gordon at St. Alexander’s (in Morrisonville),” Gratto said. “I said, ‘I see you’re trying to livesteam Mass. Can I help?’ I brought some equipment over to the church and got everything set up o Facebook to livestream Mass each week.”

After that experience, Gratto said he continued to volunteer, offering photography and video services for area parishes and Church events.

Gratto, now studying television and video production, then decided to grow his volunteer ministry, this time to promote Camp Guggenheim, the diocesan youth camp.

“I grew up going to Camp Guggenheim. I’ve been on staff for two years, but I’ve gone to camp the last 10 years. Those have been the greatest summers of my life. I was looking for ways to give back and to promote camp. I think everybody should experience a week at camp. I took my knowledge of media and put it to work. Being on staff, I was taking photos and making weekly videos. I had all these photos and video footage, and I have a love for camp, I thought I’d put together a poster or a picture advertising camp.”

Gratto started submitting his creations – promotional graphics and videos – to the diocesan Communications Department for sharing on diocesan social media.

“I try to think of ideas that will work well on social media and that will be easy for the diocese to distribute,” he said. “The diocesan social media reaches a wide audience and a variety of ages and demographics. I’ve been trying to create content that’s simple, understandable to everyone, engaging and fun. There are some references to inside jokes from camp that only the campers will get, but I try to make content that’s accessible to everyone.”

The diocesan Communications Office says he’s successful in his efforts.

“Christian understands current trends in social media, media and meme culture,” said Darcy Fargo, diocesan communications director. “He uses that knowledge to do an outstanding job creating engaging digital content, and I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He’s very creative, and he reaches his contemporaries using language and references that are part of their day-to-day lives but maybe not part of our lives as older adults. Just when I think I’ve seen his best work, he comes up with something else that makes me laugh, makes me smile or makes me wish I could be a Guggenheim camper again.”

Though he enters his junior year of college in the fall, and he recognizes the additional demands his coursework and internships will place on his time, Gratto says he hopes to continue working with both the diocese and his parish on digital media for years to come.

“I enjoy it a lot,” he said. “I’d love to keep working to promote camp and to help the Church. Even when I finish school, pursue a career and someday find my own parish, I hope to continue helping at St. Alexander’s and helping promote Camp Guggenheim whenever I can.”

Regardless of where he is involved, Gratto said he enjoys bringing Christ to social and digital media.

“There are beautiful aspects of social media, and there are terrible aspects,” he said. “Our diocese is doing positive things in the digital realm. They’re spreading awareness of what we’re doing as Catholics in the North Country. No matter what capacity it’s in, my goal is to make social media a good place, a place where people can meet Christ. For campers who go home and may forget the camp experience, I want to help remind them of the lessons they’ve learned at camp. I want parents and grandparents to see content that makes them to think, ‘oh! I should send my child or grandchild to camp.’”

“I don’t know a ton of young 20-somethings who are spending their free time using their time and talents to bring people to Jesus,” said Fargo. “Christian does that, and he does it very, very well. He’s been a great help and a great asset to the Church of the North Country.”