Vatican says vocations are a family affair

New guidelines say parents should be careful not to block vocations

The Archdiocese of Vancouver's newest priest, Father Pablo Santa Maria, (second
from right) with his sister Ana (left) father Pablo, mother Maria, and brother Humberto.
Father Santa Maria credits his journey to the priesthood to an authentic Catholic upbringing.
Special to The B.C. Catholic.

The B.C. Catholic has a story from Catholic News Agency about the Vatican's suggestions to Catholic families to encourage vocations:

Parents should be careful not to block their son’s calling to the priesthood, new Vatican guidelines on promoting vocations say.

“Even though a sense of respect for the figure of the priest is cultivated in Christian families, it is still noticeable, especially in the West, that they have a certain difficulty in accepting that their child may have a vocation to the priesthood,” says the document launched by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, head of the Congregation for Catholic Education, at the Vatican June 25.

However, “if families are animated by a spirit of faith, charity, and piety they become, as it were, an ‘initial seminary,’ and they continue to offer favourable conditions for the birth of vocations.”

Read the full story at The B.C. Catholic website.