Men Religious Moving Forward in Hope

Religious priests and brothers gathered at St. Meinrad Archabbey, St. Meinrad, IN in December 2013 and at Holy Name Retreat Center, Houston, TX in January 2014 to focus on new membership issues. Approximately 125 men attended one of the two identical events. They listened to presentations on what canon law says about religious life, Catholic demographics, the contemporary social context for vocations, and how their own institute's "vocation culture" can enhance new membership efforts.

Initial feedback about the events has been positive. Participants praised the sense of fraternity and hopefulness. Many said they will be sharing the talks and using the vocation culture assessment tool they received.

Program follow-up

This coming summer 2014, NRVC will publish online a public document gleaning the shared wisdom of the two gatherings and looking at initial steps that the participants' communities have taken.

For further information, click here  or contact Sister Debbie Borneman, SS.CM, at debbiesscm@nrvc.net

To see or download photos of the event, go to the NRVC Flickr page. 

Photos: (top, left) Father Hank Lemoncelli, OMI, of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life talks with participants in the January 2014 "Men Religious Moving Forward in Hope" event held at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, TX.

Participants (above, right) at the St. Meinrad event bless each other during a prayer service.

Brother John Mark Falkenhain, OSB (above) presents the Vocation Culture Assessment tool. Every participant received this tool to use with his own community.