A national congress to deepen reflection on the vocations crisis in the Church

After the Mission Congress, a “Vocations Congress” will be held from Friday April 29 to Sunday May 1 in Paris. “How to call in a just and renewed way to the priestly ministry? ask Sister Marie Valérie Lagarrigue, nun of the Assumption and national person in charge of vocations, and Mgr Bertrand Lacombe, archbishop of Auch and bishop delegate for vocations, in the press release of the event, while noting that “ a crisis of vocations is regularly mentioned in view of the declining numbers in seminaries or novitiates”.

Based on this observation, the National Service for the Evangelization of Young People and for Vocations (SNEJV) of the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) is organizing a “Vocations Congress” from April 29 to May 1, to “examine the word “ vocation”” and take a look at the reality of religious and presbyteral vocations in today’s world.

Biblical, sociological, psychoanalytical and theological perspectives

Divided into two parts, the congress will begin with the colloquium “A life for Christ and his kingdom”, which will deal particularly with religious and priestly vocations. Intended for people involved in the pastoral care of young people, children, families and vocations, it will cross biblical, sociological, psychoanalytical and theological perspectives on the subject.

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Thirty or so speakers of varying sensitivities will come to shed light on the discussion. On Saturday, Father Cyprien Comte, Bible scholar at the Catholic Institute of Toulouse (ICT), will open the day with an intervention on recent developments in vocational commitment. A round table will then be held, on the theme of specific vocations, with the nun Isabelle Le Bourgeois, helper and psychoanalyst, Don Paul Préaux, moderator of the Saint-Martin community, Sister Blandine Lagrut, philosopher and theologian of the Chemin- Neuf, and Loïc Luisetto, general delegate of the Lazare association.

Walk in Paris, praise and worship

A round table entitled “Listening to vocational paths in the Bible, Pope Francis and the Gospel of vocation”, with Adrien Candiard, Dominican from Cairo, Nathalie Becquart, xavière and delegate of the synod of bishops, and Mgr Jean -Luc Garin, Bishop of Saint-Claude, will close the first day.

After the symposium, “Your life is mission”, a youth festival for 18-35 year olds will be launched from Saturday afternoon at the Saint-Ignace church, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. The participants will be invited to a walk in Paris punctuated by times of meetings, prayers and testimonies, “to discover different commitments following figures of saints”. The day will end in Montmartre with a time of praise and a night of adoration.

“Monastic life for dummies”

“And me, what is my vocation? “, “Reread and discern his life with Saint Ignatius of Loyola”, “take a break, a year for God? » or « The monastic life for dummies » are among the titles of the workshops offered on Sunday afternoon, before a mass to send off in the basilica of Montmartre.

The Congress is part of the preparation of the 37th World Youth Days (WYD), which will be held in the summer of 2023 in Lisbon. Organized a week before the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, on Sunday May 8, it will open a novena of prayer for vocations in the Church.

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