6,000 seminarians, novices to take part in Year of Faith gathering in Rome
July 02, 2013
As part of the Year of Faith, 6,000 seminarians, novices, and others on the path to the priesthood or consecrated life will gather in Rome from July 4 to 7. The event begins with a pilgrimage to St. Peter’s tomb, includes talks by three cardinals, and culminates with Sunday Mass celebrated by Pope Francis.
Attendees will come from 66 nations.
At a July 1 press conference, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, discussed the schedule for the gathering. On July 5, those present will take part in catechesis and make pilgrimages to Roman churches to venerate the relics of saints who, he said, “represent an important milestone for the vocational path”: Saints Monica and Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Catherine, Philip Neri, Ignatius of Loyola, Aloysius Gonzaga and John Berchmans, Gaspar del Bufalo, and Thérèse of Lisieux. The day will conclude with a party that features Italian television personality Carlo Conti and testimonies by seminarians and novices.
On July 6, those present will take part in Eucharistic adoration and have the opportunity to go to Confession, and seminary rectors and others involved in formation will attend a talk at Lateran University. Following these events, those in attendance will hear reflections by Father Robert Barron, rector of Mundelein Seminary; Sister Maria Piccione, an Italian Augustinian nun who wrote the meditations for the Via Crucis in the Colosseum in 2011; and Juan Manuel Cotelo, a Spanish journalist who directed a film on an Italian priest. Pope Francis will recount his own vocational journey, and following songs by the Irish group The Priests and Hermana Glenda, a Chilean nun, the day will conclude with a Marian procession through the Vatican Gardens.
Previous Vatican events for the Year of Faith have been dedicated to the Sacrament of Confirmation, to confraternities and popular piety, to ecclesial movements, and to Blessed John Paul’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae.
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Further information:
- Conferenza Stampa Di Presentazione Del Grande Evento Dell’anno Della Fede "Giornata Dei Seminaristi, Novizi, Novizie E Di Quanti Sono In Cammino Vocazionale" (Holy See Press Office)
- Six thousand young people bear witness to their vocation (VIS)
- Great Event of the Year of the Faith: Pilgrimage to the Tomb of Peter of Seminarians, Novices, and Those on a Vocational Journey (AnnusFidei.va)
- Archbishop Fisichella speaks about vocations event (Vatican Radio)
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