The European Vocation Service Commission of the Council of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) will be hosting their annual meeting on the priesthood in Rome from July 1st through the 4th.
An estimated 70 participants representing bishops and delegates from 22 Catholic Bishops’ Conferences in Europe will attend the meeting. Also expected to be present are delegates of the families of the religious in Europe and North America.
According to a communique released by the CCEE, the meeting will “discuss the vocation to priesthood today in the light of the document of the Congregation for Catholic Education «Pastoral Guidelines for the promotion of vocations to the ministerial priesthood.”
Bishop Oscar Cantoni of Crema (Italy) will open the conference while several speakers will address the participants, including Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy.
The competence of these seminars were transferred from the Congregation for Catholic Education to the Congregation for the Clergy, which was changed after Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio, Ministrorum Institutio, which was released in January of this year.
“The meeting will include some moments dedicated to a discussion with experts and exchange of experiences on the pastoral care of vocations in the Church in Europe, paying particular attention to the activity of national departments and to some events, such as the World Youth Days, which could be significant moments in the maturation of a choice of the vocation to priesthood,” the communique stated.
Although the meeting will take place behind closed doors, a final statement on the work of the conference will be released after its conclusion.
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On the NET:
For a complete program of the meeting, go to www.vocations.eu
