Support Vocations

Culture of Vocations

Culture is a profound force in shaping the values, perceptions, and motivations of society.  The history of the Catholic Church in America has given testimony to how culture either supports or opposes faith.  At times the Church,  faced with outside persecution and mistrust, has "circled the wagons" in order to preserve faith.  In today's world, we are no less influenced by the surrounding culture.  Vatican II challenged the Church to "open itself" to the world, in order to give witness to the good news and be an instrument of transformation.  Unfortunately since that time, we have often embraced the world and its values to the point where we have under-emphasized the truth we were meant to be sharing. 

One result has seen a noticeable decline of priestly ministry, along with a drop in the numbers of consecrated religious.  We believe this has been, at least in part, caused by loss of a Catholic culture within our Church that supports, embraces, and holds before all people the search for their unique call from God, their vocation.

We hope to do our part to nurture a "culture of vocations" in the Diocese of Des Moines.  The following pages in this section our resources, groups, and projects currently in existence or just beginning that seeks to cultivate a culture of vocations!