Fostering vocations: a way forward

Apr 30, 2023

The Vocation Ministry report makes recommendations for bishops, vocations offices, and all Catholic laity.

The report offers a few concrete suggestions: 

-- It questions the rapid turnover rate among dioceses’ vocations directors, who hold that role on average for only three years. 

-- It suggests that the “sharpest, most capable priests” should not necessarily be assigned to large parishes, where they can become exhausted and less able to foster vocations. 

-- Families should participate in a parish-based vocations ministry, while religious education programmes for children and teens should cultivate “hearts for Christ.” Young men must receive “a consistent and encouraging message” about vocation discernment, the report says.

-- Priests should be healthy, holy, and focused, taking the fostering of vocations seriously “throughout parish life.” With the help of other Catholics, they should avoid the dangers of being overworked and make time to focus on sources of vocations in young adult ministries, altar service, and other areas.

-- Bishops, the report recommends, should be holy, inspirational, and trusted by their priests and seminarians.