Lead young people to Christ, pope urges French bishops

Published: 2003-12-08

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II encouraged French bishops to reach out to young people and help lead them to a personal encounter with Christ. The pope also said the bishops need to better highlight the positive role of the priest in order to attract seminarians and respond to the "serious crisis in vocations" throughout the country. The pope made the remarks Dec. 6 to a group of bishops on their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican, a series of consultative meetings each bishop makes every five years. Vocations in France have dropped sharply in recent years, and the pope said he was concerned that measures to counter the trend have not succeeded. He said vocations should naturally arise if young people are living their faith more deeply. The pope said the bishops should take a personal interest in their seminary programs and the four dimensions of priestly formation: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral.

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