On Monday, a Vocational Meeting organized by the Neocatechumenal Way was held in Rio de Janeiro which was attended by an estimated 50,000 youth from all over the world. The ecclesial reality hosts the meeting after every World Youth Day, which is moved by the desire to gather the fruits from the event.
The meeting, which was presided by Archbishop Orani Tempesta of Rio, was attended by five cardinals: Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna; Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston; Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney; and Cardinal Odilo Scherer, Archbishop of Sao Paulo. Also present were 75 bishops and archbishops as well as many itinerant catechists from the itinerary of Christian initiation for adults.
The meeting, which was flocked with people from all over the world, took place at the Congress Center of Riocentro a 2:30 pm (local time) and was carried out by the initiators and international responsible team of the Neocatechumenal Way: Kiko Argüello, Carmen Hernández and Fr. Mario Pezzi. The largest groups of pilgrims present came from Brazil, the United States, Italy and Spain.
After the presentation of the cardinals and other prelates, Argüello continued the meeting announcing the kerygma, and before concluding, made a vocational call to send missionary priests to Asia. 3,000 young men answered the call to enter the seminary while 2,000 young women answered the call to enter the consecrated life. These youth will begin, in their respective countries, a process that will help them to discern if this is the vocation to while God is calling them to.
