Program of Priestly Formation (Ascension)

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Priestly Vocations in the Church’s Pastoral Work ACCOMPANIMENT OF PRIESTLY VOCATIONS 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 vocations. 88 It is integral to the mission of the Church “to care for the birth, discernment and fostering of vocations, particularly those to the priesthood.” 89 Within that ecclesial context, there are various responsibilities. a. The Church : The whole Church through prayer, active cooperation, and the witness of living full Christian lives takes responsibility for vocations. 90 “Both the family and the parish of origin, or the parish to which he belongs, as well as other ecclesial communities, 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 contact with the clergy, men and women in consecrated life, and lay leaders who accompany them on this journey and encourage them into service. It is vital that the parish develop a culture of vocations to invite youth, young adults, and adults to consider the calls to

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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.

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