The Episcopal Commission for Clergy and Seminaries will gather from May 25 to 27 in Madrid the vicars and diocesan delegates responsible for priestly accompaniment. The meeting will address the “fragilities” of the ministry and what they have termed the “crystal vocation.”
The sessions, under the motto “The care of the priestly vocation in a Church of communion and for mission,” will bring together the diocesan officials in charge of following up on the clergy in their respective dioceses. The declared objective is to reflect on the care of the priestly vocation, the fraternity among presbyters, and the challenges currently facing the ordained ministry.
The opening will be led by Mons. Jesús Pulido Arriero, Bishop of Coria-Cáceres and President of the Episcopal Commission for Clergy and Seminaries, together with Mons. Jesús Vidal Chamorro, Bishop of Segovia and President of the Subcommission for Seminaries. It will be Archbishop Luis Argüello, President of the CEE, who will deliver the two main presentations of the first day, focused on the role of priests as “ministers at the service of a Church of communion and mission.”
“Crystal vocation” and fragilities of the ministry
The second day will be dedicated to offering what the organizers call “resources for a healthy experience of the priestly ministry.” Two psychotherapists linked to Jesuit institutions will speak: Miguel Ruiz Prada, priest of Palencia and member of the religious and priestly life team of UNINPSI (Pontifical University Comillas), and Adrián López Galindo, Jesuit and director of the School of Formers in Salamanca.
The latter will specifically address the issue of the “crystal vocation” and the fragilities present in the priestly ministry, an expression that alludes to the perception of vulnerability or inconsistency in some contemporary vocations.
The meeting will conclude on Wednesday, May 27, with an exchange of diocesan experiences on priestly accompaniment and an open dialogue among the participants.
The call is framed in a context of growing episcopal concern over the situation of the diocesan clergy in Spain, marked by the aging of the presbytery, the scarcity of vocations and cases of abandonment of the ministry, realities that the dioceses face with very unequal resources.