Ruadhán Jones
Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan The Irish Catholic bishop’s council for vocations is founding a ‘house of discernment/formation’ in a bid to attract new vocations to the priesthood.
Chairman of the council Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan said the house will provide “a group of like-minded people with whom they can really get to the bottom of the discernment process”.
“We know we need to do something much more daring in the present culture,” the bishop of Waterford and Lismore said, referring to the house. “We do realise that we need to do something much more proactive.”
The bishop’s comments come as The Irish Catholic found there are four seminarians starting this year across the 26 dioceses.
The house of discernment is a model already practiced by several dioceses in the United States, Bishop Cullinan said. It also draws on the example of such houses as the Holy Family Mission in Waterford.
“We’ve learned a lot from that,” Bishop Cullinan said, adding that “more of such places I believe are necessary”.
The house would be “for young people who are searching for their vocation in life, who want to deepen their relationship with the Lord”.
“The house would be an oasis of peace where people can come face-to-face with their vocation in a serious way over a lengthy period of time,” Dr Cullinan continued.
“The culture is so individualistic and secular and God is cut out of the picture – life gets in the way and distractions.”
A venue has already been found for the house, and the council are currently seeking “a good team of spiritual directors” to run it.
“We would need people who would commit to spending a number of years given to a project like this,” Bishop Cullinan said. “People who themselves are solid in their faith, and who would be willing to live in such a place and to run it.”