U.S. Bishops Launch National Website to Promote Vocations to Priesthood, Consecrated Life

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Bishops’ Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations is initiating a new website on April 25 to be a resource for both laity and clergy in the promotion of vocations. The launch date is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations and Good Shepherd Sunday.

The site has two goals: to help individuals hear and respond to the call by God to the priesthood or consecrated life, and to educate all Catholics on the importance of encouraging others through prayer and activities to promote vocations.

The Vocations Website can be found at www.ForYourVocation.org. A Spanish-language site will be available this fall at www.PorTuVocacion.org.

 Site elements include discernment resources for men and women, respectively, aids for promoting a vocation culture within the home, and a range of tools for educators, youth leaders and vocation directors including prayers, videos, best practices, lesson plans and vocation awareness programs.

 In response to Pope Benedict XVI’s 2010 Theme for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Witness Awakens Vocations, the site also hosts videos of priests and religious men and women giving witness to their vocations, as well as testimonies from family members.

ForYourVocation.org exemplifies the Vatican’s embrace of new communications media. In his message for the 44th World Day of Communications, Pope Benedict XVI challenges clergy to employ the “latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites)” to put the media “ever more effectively at the service of the Word.”

 The launch of the site will be promoted through social media forums. Facebook users can become “eVangelizers” for the cause. By becoming an eVangelizer, one can connect others to the Website’s blog posts.

 Dioceses and organizations may link to ForYourVocation.org by following the instructions at http://foryourvocation.org/web-resources.cfm.