During the occasion of the Jubilee of Youth, scheduled from 28 July to 3 August 2025, the meeting of the national directors for Vocations of the European Bishops’ Conferences will be held on 30 July in Rome. The motto chosen for this year is taken from the words of Pope Leo XIV: “Young people are a volcano of life”[1] and “the Church is in great need of vocations”[2].
The meeting, organised by the Section for Vocations/EVS of the CCEE Commission for Youth, will take place at the CCEE headquarters in the centre of Rome. The directors from the Bishops’ Conferences, responsible for vocations, will reflect on the theme “Building Links at the Service of Youth and Vocational Pastoral Work”.
The first speaker, H.E. Msgr. Giuseppe Baturi, Archbishop of Cagliari and General Secretary of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, will address the topic “The New Generations: a Frontier of Peace”. Prof. Patrizia Giunti, President of La Pira Foundation, together with other young people, will present the work of the Youth Council of the Mediterranean. Finally, the participants will be introduced to the Manifesto of the Youth of Europe “A Revolution of the Young Spirit”(#J2R2033).
To conclude the day, the participants will visit the Basilica of St. Augustine in Rome, which hosts the famous painting of the Pilgrim’s Madonna by Caravaggio. Together with the Augustinian Fathers, the directors will celebrate Vespers and Holy Mass, presided over by H.E. Msgr. José Manuel Garcia Cordeiro, Archbishop of Braga and Head of the Section for Vocations/EVS of the CCEE Commission for Youth.
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[1] Leo PP. XIV, Address to the Brothers of the Christian Schools, 15 May 2025.
[2] Leo PP. XIV, Regina Caeli, 11 May 2025.
Photo: Člověk a Víra