Continental Congress on Vocations

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the HERALD
(From the issue of 4/25/02)

This week the bishop reflects on his participation in last weekend's Third Continental Congress on Vocations held in Montreal.

A significant meeting for the Church in North America took place in Montreal from April 18-21: The Third Continental Congress on Vocations to Ordained Ministry and Consecrated Life in North America.

The theme, "Vocation: Don de Dieu, Given for God’s People" reflected the diversity and unity of those who gathered from the United States and Canada: people speaking English, French and Spanish. Nearly 1,200 delegates assembled to pray, to listen to major presenters, to take part in a workshop of their choice, to discuss in both small groups and in plenary sessions the many issues connected with vocations to ordained ministry and consecrated life and to make recommendations toward formulating a pastoral plan for promoting vocations to the priesthood and the diaconate and to religious institutions, institutes of apostolic life, secular institutes and other Church-approved ways of living out the evangelical counsels. Representatives of the Holy See also addressed the delegates, including Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education; Archbishop Giuseppe Pittau, S.J., secretary of the same congregation, and Archbishop Pierangelo Silvano Nesti, secretary of the Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

The participants included bishops, major superiors, religious and diocesan vocation directors, seminary and religious formators, priests and deacons, novices and seminarians, the newly-ordained and recently professed, sisters and brothers, members of secular institutes, parents and young adults, campus ministers and educators, Serrans and Knights of Columbus, and members of other lay associations which provide human, spiritual and financial support to the pastoral work of vocation.

All the baptized are called to holiness. Within that primary call are the more specific calls or vocations to ordained ministry, consecrated life, family life and the single life. The focus of this congress was the vocation to ordained ministry and consecrated life — this call clearly perceived and affirmed as a gift of God and given precisely for the building up and service of God’s people. How do the people in our parish and diocesan communities within North America promote, encourage, affirm and respond to these vocations, especially in our times when the need for priests, deacons and persons living the consecrated life is so great in North America?

The reality of a vocation was considered from a variety of perspectives including the biblical, theological, ecclesial, cultural and sociological. Moreover, sixteen workshops addressed a wide spectrum of underlying issues connected with vocation awareness, promotion, discernment and collaboration. In terms of collaboration, individual workshops focused on the family, the parish, Catholic educators, college and university campuses and lay groups. Understanding the diaconate and secular institutes were subjects of other workshops.

A pastoral plan rooted in a solidly Catholic theology coupled with practical and effective programs and strategies for the pastoral work of vocations is the desired outcome of this Congress. Ours will be the privilege and the challenge to implement such a pastoral plan at both the parish and diocesan levels.

So much enthusiasm was evident among the participants of this Congress. I could sense a new fire burning in the hearts of all of us who had shared these days of prayer, reflection and dialogue. I do not know what the pastoral plan will concretely contain, but I will not be surprised to find within it a number of summary observations we all heard at the closing session. We are called, as collaborators in the pastoral work of vocations, to be a reflective image of the Person of Jesus and a trusted messenger of God to His people; to personal and communal conversion rooted in prayer and in sacramental celebrations; to ongoing catechesis within our homes and parishes; and to be authentic and generous in our daily witness to Jesus. From this renewed living of the Christian life will come vocations at every level, including those to ordained ministry and consecrated life.

A dominant image throughout the Congress was the sower of the seed, taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew. At the concluding session, a number of action steps were recommended, including inviting young people and the not-so-young in a one-on-one manner to follow the Lord’s call, reaching out to our youth and to those who are older, developing stronger catechesis (formation in the Faith), forming communities of support, strengthening families and following up to the Congress on the local level, especially through the pastoral plan, which will be the tangible fruit of this Third Continental Congress.

The delegates also reflected on vocations precisely within the context of the crisis which is so much a part of our contemporary Church, especially in the United States. The conclusion was overwhelming that this was indeed the best time to be focusing on vocations to ordained ministry and consecrated life. In my judgment, Father Donald Senior, C.P., one of the key presenters, said it best, "… We can and should debate for a long time the causes of this scandal and its remedies. But at the same time, we have to dig deep into our heritage and lift up for ourselves and the people we serve the most noble and sacred ideals of our Christian Faith. We must remember with accuracy and intensity the beauty of the Gospel and the highest ideals of our call as priests and religious on behalf of God’s people…." Pointing to the Paschal Mystery, Father Senior stated: "… This indeed is the season of the passion for the Church. But if it is the passion then our Faith also tells us that new life can and must come. A renewed priesthood, new forms of consecrated life, new possibilities of collaboration and mutual respect between ordained and lay, more transparent accountability at all levels of the Church."

In his initial message to the U.S. cardinals and bishops gathered in Rome, our Holy Father echoed words of hope-filled encouragement even as he clearly condemned any and all sexual abuse of the young. "We must be confident that this time of trial will bring a purification of the entire Catholic community, a purification that is urgently needed if the Church is to preach more effectively the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its liberating force…. So much pain, so much sorrow must lead to a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate and a holier Church."

The Third Continental Congress for Vocation to Ordained Ministry and Consecrated Life in North America energized its participants to go out into the deep of our contemporary world, our hearts on fire with the words of Jesus: "I have come that you may have life and have it to the full," and our voices raised to echo the invitation of Christ: "Come, follow Me." Yes, the vocation to ordained ministry and consecrated life is truly a gift of God, given for God’s People.

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