Session of the Polish Council for the Pastoral Care of Vocations
A Week of Prayer for Vocations, the 24th Pilgrimage of Families of Those Called and Persons Supporting Vocations to Jasna Góra, and the mode of operation of the pastoral care for vocations during the World Youth Day in Lisbon were the main topics addressed during the session of the National Council for the Pastoral Care of Vocations, held on April 12 in Warsaw. The meeting was officiated by the Delegate of the Polish Bishops’ Conference for Vocations, Bishop Andrzej Przybylski.
The meeting in the Secretariat of the Polish Bishops’ Conference offered an opportunity to plan actions to inspire and coordinate initiatives of the pastoral care of vocations in Poland. “We discussed our contribution to and participation in the three major events we are looking forward to in the near future. These are primarily the Week of Prayer for Vocations, starting on April 30. We drafted aid materials for the time: catechesis, homilies, and vocation statistics. Another event is the 24th Pilgrimage of Families of Those Called and Persons Supporting Vocations to Jasna Góra, scheduled for May 13. Furthermore, we discussed the activities in the area of pastoral care for vocations during the World Youth Day in Lisbon. The event will offer young people an excellent opportunity to discern their vocation. We want to take advantage of the time to accompany and help them,” said the Delegate of the Polish Bishops’ Conference for Vocations.
In addition, members of the National Council for the Pastoral Care of Vocations talked about the inauguration of a specialist major in theology and pedagogy of vocations. “Our role is to point the direction, coordinate and inspire the pastoral care for vocations in Poland. We see we cannot confine it only to the presentation of specific congregations. Nor can we treat it as a form of recruitment to seminaries or noviciates. This is an entire long process of accompanying discernment,” said Bishop Przybylski.
The National Council for the Pastoral Care of Vocations meets four times a year. The following meeting will be held on June 19 in Jasna Góra.
The National Council for the Pastoral Care of Vocations is affiliated at the Polish Bishops’ Conference. It is appointed by the Conference’s Delegate for Vocations, who is the president of the Council. The underlying objective is to inspire the pastoral care of vocations to the priesthood, religious life and for missions, as well as vocations to lay institutes of consecrated life. Another area of activity is the coordination of vocation activities and the promotion of relevant collaboration between diocesan clergy and consecrated persons.
pojdzzamna.pl / Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
Translation: M. Turski / Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
