• Change a life

  • A Carmelite friar being ordained

  • A Daughter of St Paul leading a retreat

  • Dominican friars singing Divine Office

  • Benedictine novices

  • London Nun-Run, Monastery-Marathon

  • Franciscan friars at adoration

  • Religious campaigning for social justice

  • Taking time to reflect

  • Missionaries of Charity at Mass

Isle of Wight monastery offers spiritual internships

In this fast-paced world, rife with distractions, there’s an opportunity for religious young people to “establish a lasting spiritual foundation” for their lives. An eight-week monastic internship is available to 18 to 25-year-olds at Quarr Abbey, a Catholic Benedictine Monastery on the Isle of Wight.

Josh Caminiti, a 23-year-old from Canada, who is about to start a new job as a business consultant in London, took part in the programme and shares his experience with the BBC in this video.

Pope names women as full members of congregation for religious

Pope Francis has named six superiors of women’s religious orders, a consecrated laywoman and the superior of the De La Salle Christian Brothers to be full members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Previously, the members had all been men: cardinals, a few bishops and several priests who were superiors of large religious orders of men.

To read the full article from Crux, please click here.

European Vocations Service

The European Vocations Service, (EVS), part of the Conference of Bishops of Europe, met in Rome from the 4th – 7th June. We discussed how best to implement the outcomes of the recent synod on Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment, and were privileged to meet Pope Francis on the penultimate day.

Pope Francis welcomed us all warmly and gave us his prepared speech… and proceeded to address us with an impromptu message. Pope Francis believes that the Holy Spirit still calls people to lives of special consecration, and we should courageously cast out the nets, but always in the context of the wider Christian calling. You can read the full message (both impromptu and prepared) here.

Leadership from Within

A residential programme building on ‘seeking wholeness’ is taking place for Leaders, Leadership Teams, Formators,  Community and Pastoral Leaders from 18th September – 3rd October at the Cold Ash Centre of Franciscan Spirituality in Thatcham. For more details please click here.

Vocations Sunday

This Sunday (12th May) is the Day of Prayer for Vocations. This day flows from the broader culture of vocation, and is when the universal Church asks the Lord to send more labourers to the harvest.

Please visit our Vocations Sunday Page to view resources that can be used in your parish, school or community.

To read Pope Francis’s message for Vocations Sunday please click here.