Vocations Sunday Mass to be broadcast on RTÉ One this Good Shepherd Sunday

09 May 2025

Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan with seminarians in the College Chapel of Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth during the Year for Vocation to the Diocesan Priesthood 2023 – 2024

  • “Young people need priests to guide, inspire, and walk with them on their spiritual journey.  Let us pray fervently for more vocations” – Bishop Cullinan

This Sunday, 11 May 2025, known as Good Shepherd Sunday throughout the Church, marks the 62nd anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. 

To commemorate this special date, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore and chair of the Council for Vocations of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, will celebrate a televised Mass from the RTÉ studios in Donnybrook, Dublin, at 11.00am on RTÉ One.

Speaking ahead of the Mass, Bishop Cullinan said, “Working with young people is always a deeply rewarding experience.  I am continually inspired by how the presence of a priest captures their imagination and stirs their curiosity.  They ask profound questions about life, faith, and the Church – questions that reveal a deep longing for truth and meaning.  Young people need priests to guide, inspire, and walk with them on their spiritual journey.  Let us pray fervently for more vocations to the priesthood, so that God’s grace may be shared and His guidance made known – not only to the young, but to all.”

Father Willie Purcell, National Vocations Coordinator, will concelebrate the Mass.  In attendance will be seminarians from Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Redemptoris Mater Seminary, Dundalk, and representatives from the Knights of Saint Columbanus, Youth 2000, Holy Family Mission, the Vocations Society of Saint Joseph, various religious congregations, and the Legion of Mary.  Sister Moira Bergin RSM will lead the music.

Father Purcell emphasised the importance of this celebration, stating: “Again, this year, thousands of people will join in our televised Mass and unite in prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

“Our late Pope Francis, in his message for this year’s Vocations Sunday, wrote: ‘Let us never tire, then, of asking the Lord for new labourers for His harvest, certain that with great love He continues to call them. Keep walking as pilgrims of hope on the path of the Gospel!’”

Father Purcell continued: “In this Jubilee Year of Hope I ask the question of those thinking of priesthood, ‘Do you want to be a man of hope for others’, if so I would encourage men who are discerning a call to the diocesan priesthood to reach out to their local vocations director, who will accompany and support them as they listen for where God may be leading them.”

This annual celebration of the Eucharist offers the faithful a unique and vital opportunity to pray for and promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life – particularly in a time when vocations to the diocesan priesthood are greatly needed.

ENDS