Sunday – 8 May – is the Fourth Sunday of Easter, and we treat it as Vocations Sunday. Traditionally (i.e. for the last 50 years) we have presented it as a time to talk about the need for more young (and not so young) men to think of going into a seminary and preparing for Read more
Catechesis is a tradition that is lived from heart to heart, from mind to mind, life to life. Pope Francis made the comments while participants in a meeting promoted by the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation on Friday. He was following up on the comments he made at St Martin’s Cathedral, Bratislava during his Read more
Some married men would become priests if they were invited to, a Belgian bishop told the Synod of Bishops on behalf of Belgium’s bishops’ conference. Bishop Jean Kockerols said the vocations of Christian marriage and “celibacy for the kingdom” of God “deserve to be equally promoted by the church.” Kockerols said Christians are expected to Read more
When we read the Psalms we recognise a familiar pattern of prayer we can call “Bargaining with God.” In the ancient texts it goes something like this: “God, I praise you, I adore you, I worship you. Now will you please smite my enemies.” Our bargaining tends to be a slightly different: “God, sorry, I’ve Read more
A leading religious sister has called for men and women to be on the Pope’s future commission to study the issue of women deacons. Sr Carmen Sammut, the president of the International Union of Superiors General (IUSG), also said sisters globally would be better equipped to carry out their work if they could become deacons. Read more
Young women, are you contemplating next year’s plans? Perhaps finishing school and wondering about the next steps? Perhaps not quite sure you’re on the right track with your studies? Ready to get out of the workplace and into the books? Theology. Philosophy. I know you think I’m kidding. Who does that? Can you even get Read more
Young men and women in New Zealand are devoting their lives to the Church. We hear from some of them about their path ahead. Jane Maisey spent her twenties exploring, both physically and spiritually, looking at different religions and ways of being. But it wasn’t until the Christchurch earthquakes that she came back to the Read more
Mechanical bulls, rock-climbing walls, bounce houses, go-karts: Before becoming a nun, Sister Virginia Joy helped insure them all. “I was a go-between between the underwriters and the customers,” said Sister Virginia Joy, a former high school soccer star from South Carolina now wearing a habit of white and navy blue. She was fighting Midtown Manhattan Read more
Last Saturday the Young Church Ministries in the Wellington Archdiocese ran a programme called SEEK 2015. A group of young adults joined with Cardinal John Dew, Diocesan and Marist priests, seminarians, Sisters of Compassion, Marist Brothers, married couples and their families and consecrated singles from around the archdiocese of Wellington at the Home of Compassion, Island Read more
A report said the Catholic Church in the United States is seeing a growing number of men enrolled in graduate level seminaries. Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate noted that this year’s tally of 3,694 graduate theology students represents a 16 percent increase since 1995 and a 10 percent jump since 2005. Read more