The man responsible for promoting vocations to the priesthood and
religious life in England and Wales has called for a radical rethink of
the approach.
Fr Christopher Jamison, head of the Office for Vocations for England
and Wales, told The Irish Catholic it is vital to get young people to
think about the kind of life they want to lead rather than just
concentrating on promoting religious vocations.
The star of the hit BBC series The Monastery said the new approach must be ''from recruitment to discernment''.
''We've shifted from asking 'would you like to become a priest?' to
asking, 'what kind of person would you like to be and what would you
like to do in life?'.''
He warns: ''If you approach a person from 'Generation Y' with the
question 'would you like to be a priest' they see it as an attack on
their freedom.''
This new approach has led to the creation of a number of successful mixed 'discernment groups' across England and Wales.
Fr Jamison says: ''It's our experience when you speak to women and
men together it has a powerful impact. It validates to them that this is
not a recruitment exercise, it's a discernment exercise.''
According to Fr Jamison, ''a vocations director and promoter are
different roles. A director must have time to concentrate on those who
are already discerning their vocation, a promoter must seek to create a
culture of vocations''.
England and Wales has seen a steady increase in the number of young
people embarking on religious vocations in recent years.
Last year saw
56 young men enter seminary in England and Wales, the highest number in a
decade.