Year for Priests

June 19, 2009 - June 19, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI has declared a "Year for Priests" with the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney. We are all invited to pray for...

A Statue of St. Hannibal in St. Peter's Basilica

A statue of St. Hannibal di Francia will be displayed outside St. Peter's Basilica at the entrance of the atrium of the bells. John Paul II called him "Apostle of prayer for vocations, authentic...

Nurturing Priestly Vocations Old and New

By Rev. Michael Wensing

A RUN BEGINS WHEN YOU FORGET YOU ARE RUNNING. This year I left a beloved parish in response to a summons through my bishop from the board of governing bishops of the Pontifical North American College to go to Rome to be the new director of the Sabbatical program for American and other English speaking priests as well as adjunct faculty member at the seminary. Three times I have been pulled out of my first love and calling to parish life to serve for a period of time in the larger church; once as diocesan vocations director, another time as a seminary professor and now this assignment for three to five years.

I regard the parish as the “family farm” of the larger church. That is, it is the field of...
22/06/2009 10:08