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2. The duty of fostering vocations pertains to the whole Christian
community, which should exercise it above all by a fully Christian
life. The principal contributors to this are the families which,
animated by the spirit of faith and love and by the sense of duty,
become a kind of initial seminary, and the parishes in whose rich life
the young people take part. Teachers and all those who are in any way
in charge of the training of boys and young men, especially Catholic
associations, should carefully guide the young people entrusted to them
so that these will recognize and freely accept a divine vocation. All
priests especially are to manifest an apostolic zeal in fostering
vocations and are to attract the interest of youths to the priesthood by
their own life lived in a humble and industrious manner and in a happy
spirit as well as by mutual priestly charity and fraternal sharing of
labor.
Bishops on the other hand are to encourage their flock to promote
vocations and should be concerned with coordinating all forces in a
united effort to this end. As fathers, moreover, they must assist
without stint those whom they have judged to be called to the Lord's
work.
The effective union of the whole people of God in fostering vocations
is the proper response to the action of Divine Providence which
confers the fitting gifts on those men divinely chosen to participate in
the hierarchical priesthood of Christ and helps them by His grace.
Moreover, this same Providence charges the legitimate ministers of
the Church to call forward and to consecrate with the sign of the Holy
Spirit to the worship of God and to the service of the Church those
candidates whose fitness has been acknowledged and who have sought so
great an office with the right intention and with full freedom.
The sacred synod commends first of all the traditional means of common
effort, such as urgent prayer, Christian penance and a constantly
more intensive training of the faithful by preaching, by catechetical
instructions or by the many media of social communication that will show
forth the need, the nature and the importance of the priestly
vocation. The synod moreover orders that the entire pastoral activity
of fostering vocations be methodically and coherently planned and, with
equal prudence and zeal, fostered by those organizations for promoting
vocations which, in accord with the appropriate pontifical documents,
have already been or will be set up in the territory of individual
dioceses, regions or countries. Also, no opportune aids are to be
overlooked which modern Psychological and sociological research has
brought to light.
The work of fostering vocations should, in a spirit of openness,
transcend the limits of individual dioceses, countries, religious
families and rites. Looking to the needs of the universal Church, it
should provide aid particularly for those regions in which workers for
the Lord's vineyard are being requested more urgently.
3. In minor seminaries erected to develop the seeds of vocations,
the students should be prepared by special religious formation,
particularly through appropriate spiritual direction, to follow Christ
the Redeemer with generosity of spirit and purity of heart. Under the
fatherly direction of the superiors, and with the proper cooperation of
the parents, their daily routine should be in accord with the age, the
character and the stage of development of adolescence and fully adapted
to the norms of a healthy psychology. Nor should the fitting
opportunity be lacking for social and cultural contacts and for contact
with one's own family. Moreover, whatever is decreed in the
following paragraphs about major seminaries is also to be adapted to the
minor seminary to the extent that it is in accord with its purpose and
structure. Also, studies undertaken by the students should be so
arranged that they can easily continue them elsewhere should they choose
a different state of life.
With equal concern the seeds of vocations among adolescents and young
men are also to be fostered in those special institutes which, in
accord with the local circumstances, serve the purpose of a minor
seminary as well as among those who are trained in other schools or by
other educational means. Finally, those institutions and other
schools initiated for those with a belated vocation are to be carefully
developed.
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