ASIA/CHINA - The Day of Prayer for Vocations celebrated with fervor by Chinese Catholic communities

Monday, 27 April 2026 local churches vocations seminaries seminarians priests

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Shijiazhuang (Fides News Agency) – “All of us can become guardians and promoters of vocations, cultivating together the fertile ground of the call, so that more and more people may hear the invitation ‘Come and follow me’ and, with courage, enter the Lord’s vineyard, becoming laborers alongside Christ.” This is the message of the Appeal for Vocations from the Diocesan Seminary of Beijing, published on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Easter, “Good Shepherd Sunday.”
During Saturday, April 25, and Sunday, April 26, countless initiatives promoting priestly and religious vocations were held throughout mainland China.
In Beijing parishes, formation materials on vocations were distributed, including a booklet of “Questionnaires on Sacred Scripture” prepared for the Year of the Word of God, convened by the diocese. Cloth bags bearing the image of the cathedral were been distributed.
In the Diocese of Ningbo, four new priests were ordained. Bishop Francis Xavier Jin Yangke presided over the solemn ordination liturgy in the cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. He also made a special invitation to the faithful to pray for vocations. “Our time is marked by a shortage of priestly and religious vocations. Therefore, we must not only pray for vocations, but also carefully discern our hearts, be willing to offer our lives, and entrust even our children to the Lord.”
Following the liturgy, which was attended by numerous faithful, especially family and friends of the newly ordained priests, Bishop Jin issued the episcopal decree assigning parishes for their pastoral service. On the eve of the Day of Prayer for Vocations, the parish of Jiujiang (Jiangxi Province) had already urged the faithful to pray and offer for vocations in the diocese.
The Philosophical and Theological Seminary of Shaanxi Province organized gatherings dedicated to discernment and vocational formation in anticipation of the Day of Prayer for Vocations. Several groups, comprised of seminarians, formation priests, teachers, and religious sisters, totaling more than 70 people, visited parishes to share their journeys of vocational formation, starting with their daily lives at the seminary. The priest, after describing his vocational journey and the concrete reality of seminary formation, offered a reflection on discernment, response, and perseverance in one's vocation, encouraging families to cherish God's call, to live their faith in daily life, and to commit themselves zealously to promoting vocations for the proclamation of the Gospel. (NZ) (Fides News Agency, 27/4/2026)