In the past year 6,930 people interested in Catholic religious vocations complete online profiles and request information from religious communities. The VocationMatch.com website caught the attention of these people.
It gathers information from inquirers and then matches their profiles against the profiles of religious communities in its database.
Inquirers are put in touch with the communities that best match their personal preferences and interests - in much the same way successful dating websites bring potentially compatible couples together.
Without such a website, those who felt called to religious life were faced with the daunting task of sifting through hundreds of community listings and dioceses.
Keyword searches in some religious sites did help, but they generally did not give insights to discerners on whether they would be more suited for the Benedictines or the Ursulines, the Jesuits or the Marists, or diocesan work, for example.
Now with this site (VocationsWatch.com) inquirers are getting a better sense of where they might be called and a narrower list of communities to contact.
Vocation directors benefit by receiving inquiries from more qualified discerners who have considered some of the more practical questions of choosing a religious vocation, such as: Do I want to live in a monastery or a house; minister overseas or in a local community; be part of a large or small community; wear a habit or religious symbol; and pray with others once a day or several times a day?
In Vocation Match's first year, reader profiles jumped from 1,503 to 5,591. This past year, Vocation Match drew in another 6,690 new (unique) visitors.
"Vision Vocation Match has become an indispensable tool for Catholic religious vocation discernment," says Patrice Tuohy, executive editor of VISION Vocation Guide, published by TrueQuest Communications of Chicago on behalf of the National Religious Vocation Conference.
"With fewer Catholics being taught by religious sisters, brothers, and priests, exposure to those living in religious communities has declined but interest in religious life has actually increased in recent years," Patrice Tuohy said.
"The internet has played a significant role in getting the word out about religious life. Now Vocation Match has taken things one step further by assisting discerners in sorting through large amounts of information in a more efficient and accessible way."
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(Source: CIN)