Long before the website, the name, or the chapters… there were people gathering. Friends in faith planning destination retreats. Dinners turning into adventures. Trips becoming traditions. What you see below are real moments from those early years.

Early Gatherings

Marco started hosting Catholic destination retreats, in beach houses around Sonora, and mountain cabins around Arizona, first it was called Life Project, then XLIFE project (x for Christ, of course).

Weekend escapes

Explain a little more here

Dinners for 12

All this got sparked back up by an reel where Marco talked about his “Dinners for 12” which introduced single Catholics to each other in curated, social experiences, that actually sparked some courtships. Marco began curating these types of experiences for his young adult groups from St. Thomas the Apostle in Tucson and St. Mark’s in Oro Valley.

Social Experiences

But then, his social media started blowing up, so he started hosting some cooler social experiences, bringing people in from Phoenix and Nogales, while still helping the local Young Adult groups and the activities they already host on their own.

Skills and Salon Nights

So, the idea behind Society of the 12 is to mix many things that already happen, though somewhat scattered, through different Young Adult groups, or parishes, or informally through our Catholic chats, and now we’re giving it structure, and we’re giving it a budget, to make the experiences much more memorable and consistent.

So what started as a group of friends organizing retreats as excuses to go to the beach, may just become the movement that sparks a vibrant social life rooted in shared faith, dinners, sports, retreats, travel, and lifestyle.

Fitness Classes and Sports

Explain about Street Gyms here.

These photos are all inspiration from social experiences and club life programs that Marco has helped host, many just casual with friends, others formally through churches or Young Adult groups, but now, he’s turning it into a social club life. Society of the 12 photos coming soon.