Donegal-born Monsignor, Eamonn McLaughlin, will host a delegation of vocations directors from Ireland at the dicastery in Rome next week for a workshop on the promotion for priestly vocations.
The group will travel to Italy at the invitation of His Eminence Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy,
The workshop for vocations directors will be conducted by the Prefect and his secretary, Monsignor McLaughlin. Before his papal appointment, the Downings native served in the Diocese of Raphoe.
In April 2024, Monsignor McLaughlin, Undersecretary for the Dicastery for Clergy, Seminary Section at the Vatican was appointed as a canon of the Papal Basilica.
This role involves pastoral duties at the Basilica, home to the icon of Our Lady, Health of the Roman People [Salus Populi Romani] and the oldest church in the West dedicated to Mary.
Monsignor Eamonn McLaughlin.
Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, chair of the Irish Bishops’ Council for Vocations, will accompany the group of eight vocations directors.
“During March of last year, at the International Eucharistic and Marian Shrine in Knock, the National Vocations Office held a very successful conference as part of our Year for Vocation to the Diocesan Priesthood,” he said.
“Cardinal Heung-Sik was guest speaker at our gathering of seminarians and leaders in vocations, and he spoke of the beauty and sacrifice of priesthood as well as on the need to promote priestly vocations in families and parish communities. The Cardinal was very encouraging and he invited us to come to Rome. We are looking forward to our visit to the Dicastery, both to share our own experience and to learn from others regarding promoting vocations.”
Bishop Cullinan concluded, “Our visit will enable us to seek insight into our continuing efforts to promote vocations to the priesthood in Ireland. It will be interesting to hear of efforts to promote priestly vocations in other countries. The Dicastery for Clergy has an international vision from which we can learn. When vocations directors collaborate, there is a greater harmony, networking, sharing of experiences and ideas and praying together, and all the more so during these days with our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV.”
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