Madeleine “Maddie” DiSalvatore, the director of the diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Accompaniment, is a home-grown star of the Youngstown Diocese. Born and raised in Ashtabula, DiSalvatore attended Saint John School from pre-K all the way to her graduation in 2018.
From there, she attended Walsh University in North Canton, where she graduated with a major in psychology and a minor in theology. DiSalvatore was originally planning to study music, as she plays piano, flute and sings. Then, when her father told her that Walsh was listed on the Newman Guide—a list compiled by the Cardinal Newman Society of Catholic Colleges around the world recognized for their commitment to faithful education—she decided to apply.
It was at Walsh that DiSalvatore was first drawn to working in campus ministry. She deepened her own faith, led numerous retreats and even became a “peacemaker”—students who train to be mentors for freshmen and live in the freshman dorms for the rest of their time at the university. DiSalvatore realized that youth ministry was her calling.
“I started to feel a strong pull on my heart [my] sophomore year of college that God wanted to do something more with me than perhaps the path that I was on,” she said. “I began feeling really drawn to mission work and service, and so, I found myself … serving at soup kitchens like the Dorothy Day House. I started to feel a strong desire to do mission work and go out and do that full-time and talk to teenagers and pull them closer to Jesus Christ.”
DiSalvatore began applying for work at various service organizations around the country, but soon realized that she didn’t need to travel far and wide to do God’s work—she could do it right here at home.
That led her to Warren’s John F. Kennedy Catholic School, where a youth ministry job had just opened. In addition to her ministry duties—which included retreat planning, managing the sacristy and setting up for Masses—DiSalvatore taught classes. She had never intended to be a teacher, but she gave it a shot anyway. DiSalvatore realized, however, that it was not for her, so she decided to move on.
When Bishop David Bonnar heard that DiSalvatore left JFK, he approached her about it at the 2023 World Youth Day Summer Festival and she told him about her desire to be in a full-time ministry position. DiSalvatore recalls how Bishop Bonnar said that he “always felt, since he met me a couple years prior at Walsh, that he knew I should work in the Church.”
Soon after the festival, DiSalvatore got a call from the diocese asking if she’d like go to lunch (Bob Evans, specifically) with the Bishop. “So we did, and he offered me this position, and now here we are!” she said with a laugh. “He kind of found me at a time where obviously I needed a job … I think God placed this in my path for a reason, and I believe that it’s the Holy Spirit working. I feel like in whatever you’re doing, if you’re doing it out of love for God, He will bless that.”
DiSalvatore’s goal as the director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Accompaniment, Discernment, Formation and Missionary Discipleship is not only to create experiences for our diocese’s youth and young adults—such as the “Arise” young adult summer festival that was held in July—but to also offer formation events for the ministers who lead them.
DiSalvatore knows just how important it is for youth and young adult ministers to be in a good place mentally and spiritually. To that end, she’s been taking time every week to meet with ministers outside the office, to check in with them, understand what’s going on at the parish level and look for ways she can help.
That goal ultimately led to last month’s “Be Fed” event, which gave “youth ministers and campus ministers [the opportunity] to find connection, inspiration and encouragement for the coming school year,” she said.
“I think that relational piece is really important … I want them to know that somebody’s out there supporting them and rooting them on,” said DiSalvatore. “I want to be that bridge for them to any resources that they might need that I can assist with.”
To keep up-to-date with all DiSalvatore’s work for the Diocese of Youngstown, visit the website.
