Fr David Simonetti makes pasta
sauces for charity. "When you eat together, it changes everyone. You go
from a 'me' mentality to a 'we' mentality," he says of his passion. Fr Simonetti poured a thick, aromatic spaghetti sauce over pasta and meatballs as he put the finishing touches on a recent Italian meal at his home.
On his dining room table sat four jars of special blends that star in Fr Simonetti’s line of Communio Sauces. An associate pastor of St James the Greater Church in Sauk Village, Illinois, he recently launched his Communio Sauces in the Chicago area.
The recipes for the various sauces were developed by Fr Simonetti, who has enjoyed cooking since he was a child. He learned the culinary craft from his mother and grandfather.
“The whole point of this is it’s for charity,” said Fr Simonetti, about the nonprofit sauce company. He said the money goes to help organisations in the areas where the sauces are sold. Organisations include shelters, pantries, and other groups. “This is a creative way for me to be charitable,” he said.
Fr Simonetti, who grew up in Chicago Heights, said cooking for others is something that definitely brings him much joy.
“I like everything to be an event,” he said as he placed a large plate of spaghetti and a large platter of roast chicken on the table for three guests, including this reporter. Paul Anderson, general manager of The Shrine of Christ’s Passion, also joined Fr Simonetti for lunch that day.
The priest, who is a convivial host with a sense of humour, said he usually cooks to a musical soundtrack. One often will find him playing varied tunes from Pavarotti and Bocelli to Sinatra and Springsteen.
He named the product Communio, which, in Latin, is translated to “communion together in love.”
The term also relates to the act of Communion and the sharing of the body of Christ in the Catholic faith.