Pontifical Pastoral Ministry for Vocations to the Priesthood

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Letter from Msgr. Francis Bonnici of the Congregation for Catholic Education

Your Excellencies, Bishops Delegates
for Pastoral Ministry for Vocations,
Directors of Vocations,

The Pontifical Pastoral Ministry for Vocations to the Priesthood, wants to continue this correspondence between this Office and those who represent the Vocation centres, both national and diocesan.

The P.P.M.V.P. thanks all those who, as required by the accompanying letter sent with the Message of the Holy Father for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations (25 April 2010), sent to this office the publications with regards to this event, and their response to the circular letter of 24 June 2010.

In this letter, another paragraph drawn from the Message (2010) is suggested to help the pastoral agents of vocations in their personal life and also to encourage them to make a bigger effort at the service of vocations in the local Churches:

"God's free and gracious initiative encounters and challenges the human responsibility of all those who accept his invitation to become, through their own witness, the instruments of his divine call. This occurs in the Church even today: the Lord makes use of the witness of priests who are faithful to their mission in order to awaken new priestly and religious vocations for the service of the People of God. For this reason, I would like to mention three aspects of the life of a priest which I consider essential for an effective priestly witness.

A fundamental element, one which can be seen in every vocation to the priesthood and the consecrated life, is friendship with Christ. Jesus lived in constant union with the Father and this is what made the disciples eager to have the same experience; from him they learned to live in communion and unceasing dialogue with God. If the priest is a "man of God", one who belongs to God and helps others to know and love him, he cannot fail to cultivate a deep intimacy with God, abiding in his love and making space to hear his Word. Prayer is the first form of witness which awakens vocations. Like the Apostle Andrew, who tells his brother that he has come to know the Master, so too anyone who wants to be a disciple and witness of Christ must have "seen" him personally, come to know him, and learned to love him and to abide with him."

Besides, the P.P.M.V.P. has prepared a sheet for every nation in the world wherein the latest statistics regarding the number of priests and seminarians, as well as, the numbers for male and female of consecrated persons can be found for every year over the period covering 2000-2008 as found in the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae. A commentary on these data can be found in the review Seminarium n.1/2010 which is available on demand.

The Pontifical Pastoral Ministry for Vocations to the Priesthood is going to celebrate the 70th anniversary, 4th November 2011, since Pope Pius XII instituted the Pontifical Pastoral Ministry for Vocations to the Priesthood with the Motu Proprio Quam nobis.

The P.P.M.V.P. wants to ask respectfully all those who know of the existence of an Association for priestly vocations which was founded a long time ago in the local Churches with the same aim as the P.P.M.V.P., to send the particulars of this diocesan or parish institution for a further contact regarding some suggestions about the celebration of this important foundation.

United in the prayer to the Lord of the harvest I take this opportunity, to wish you a blessed time in the Lord.

Yours in Christ
Msgr Francis Bonnici

vocation@cec.va
www.priestlyvocations.com

tel. 0039 06 69884315
fax 0039 06 69884172