"In the European churches we would like to see the testimony of their faith."1 out of every 3 baptisms in the world takes place in mission territoriesOn May 8, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations and the Day of Native Vocations will be celebrated this year under the motto, "Leave your mark, be a witness". A campaign in which the Episcopal Commission for the Clergy and Seminaries, the Spanish Conference of Religious (CONFER), Pontifical Missionary Works (PMS) and the Spanish Conference of Secular Institutes (CEDIS) are united.
This unity has been the keynote of the presentation of this campaign that José María Calderón, national director of OMP and Sergio Requena, director of the Episcopal Subcommission for Seminaries have explained in a press conference together with four vocational testimonies: the Cordovan Franciscan Manuel Jesús Madueño Moreno, Inmaculada Fernández, member of the Secular Institute Secular Servants of Jesus Christ Priest, Daniel Navarro Berrios, deacon of the Diocese of Getafe and Sister Justina Banda, a member of the Missionary Daughters of Calvary. Justina Banda, a member of the Missionary Daughters of Calvary.
As Sergio Requena pointed out, "on this day we pray for vocations and for the Christian community to take care of these vocations" and he also pointed out that the fact that several institutions come together on this day for vocations is a joy "because in the Church there is nothing that is indifferent to us".
For his part, the director of OMP Spain recalled that May 3 marked the first centenary of the Pontifical Work for the Propagation of the Faith becoming the work of the Pope, and therefore Pontifical. Calderon wanted to emphasize the need for "the first evangelizers of the territories that are incorporated into the Church to be the natives themselves, people who know the culture, language and tradition of these places.
The footprints I now follow
The presentation of the day was followed by the testimonies of four people with different vocations in the Church: priesthood, consecrated life and a consecrated laywoman. Sister Justina Banda, a native of a Zimbabwean village where Spanish missionaries have been working for the past 50 years, gave a particularly moving testimony.
Seeing the work of these missionaries, Justina considered her vocation. Her father refused and her mother, illiterate, was able to get her to go to the convent by asking her brother to write the letter of permission. Today Justina follows in the footsteps of those Spanish nuns who came to my town, cared for babies and the hungry and evangelized. Now, as a missionary Daughter of Calvary, "we are there where the Calvaries of the world are: the sick with AIDS, orphans... Thanks to this journey we know that evangelization must always be in communion", she concluded.
CARF joins this day
This Day of Prayer for Vocations and the Day of Native Vocations has a special resonance for the Roman Academic Center Foundation. This Foundation has launched a campaign entitled "Let no vocation be lost". with the objective of raising sufficient funds for 20 seminarians from around the world can carry out their studies in Rome and Pamplona. CARF is aware that many vocations are born today in African or American countries, but the lack of material means prevents some of these vocations from reaching the seminaries and encourages Christians to "think that behind every priestly vocation, there is another call from the Lord, who asks us to ensure the means for their formation".
