Program of Priestly Formation 6th edition

Priestly Vocations in the Church’s Pastoral Work

ACCOMPANIMENT OF PRIESTLY VOCATIONS

50. The whole Church receives and accompanies the gift of vocations from God and is responsible for promoting and discerning vocations. 87 The entire Church is to be engaged in the pastoral work of promoting voca tions. 88 It is integral to the mission of the Church “to care for the birth, discernment and fostering of vocations, particularly those to the priest hood.” 89 Within that ecclesial context, there are various responsibilities. a. The Church : The whole Church through prayer, active coopera tion, and the witness of living full Christian lives takes responsi bility for vocations. 90 “Both the family and the parish of origin, or the parish to which he belongs, as well as other ecclesial commu nities, contribute significantly to sustaining and nourishing the vocation of those called to the priesthood.” 91 b. The family : “A very special responsibility falls upon the Christian family, which by virtue of the sacrament of matrimony shares in its own unique way in the educational mission of the Church— teacher and mother.” Families can become “‘a first seminary’ in which children can acquire from the beginning an awareness of piety and prayer and love for the Church.” 92 c. The parish : The parish is where vocations are first explored and nourished in the faith and where those who are called come into

87 88 89 90 91 92

See Pastores Dabo Vobis , nos. 34-41. See CIC, c. 233 §1; CCEO, c. 329. Pastores Dabo Vobis , no. 34. See Pastores Dabo Vobis , no. 41. Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 148. Pastores Dabo Vobis , no. 41.