The Holy See presented details of the upcoming Year of Faith event dedicated to seminarians, novices, and all those who have taken the path of vocation. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization made the presentation during a press conference on Monday. Also present was Archbishop Jose Octavio Ruiz Arenas and Msgr. Graham Bell, secretary and under-secretary of the same council. The event will take place from July 4th-7th.
Archbishop Fisichella told journalists that the theme of the event, “I trust in you”, indicated “the act by which the young may still find the strength and courage to consecrate themselves to the Lord and to the priestly or consecrated life as a sign of generosity to the Lord Who calls upon them to follow Him.”
The event will begin with a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter’s where participants will depart from Castel Gandolfo and walk down Via della Conciliazione and end at St. Peter’s Basilica, where they will be addressed by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, Archpriest of the basilica and Vicar General of Vatican City State.
On Friday, designated churches around Rome will hold catechesis in various languages and will conclude with a celebration at Piazza del Campidoglio where there will be music and testimonies from two seminarians and an Italian nun.
A day dedicated to the Celebration of Reconciliation and Eucharistic adoration will follow on Saturday. Superiors who are accompanying seminarians and religious will be given the opportunity to “reflect on matters of formation at the Lateran University. Participants will gather in the afternoon where they will have an audience with Pope Francis. The Holy Father is expected to “offer privileged testimony of his own vocation.” The day will conclude with a Marian procession in the Vatican Gardens, and will follow with an address at St. Peter’s Basilica from Cardinal J. Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life.
The highlight of the Day of Seminarians, Novices and Those Who Taken the Path of Vocation will be a Mass celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday. According to Archbishop Fisichella, an estimated 6,000 young people from 66 different countries are expected to attend the events of the “thousands and thousands of other young people who will be spiritually united with them in bearing witness to their vocation.”
