The European Conference of the national centres for vocations is being held in Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 4 to 7 July. It has as its title: “The identity of the vocational ministry in the European multicultural context”. The directors of the national centres and the delegates of the Episcopal Conferences for the vocational apostolate are attending the conference. Organized by the European Service for vocations, a body that coordinates the national centres for vocations of the Episcopal Conferences, the meeting is being “sponsored” by the CCEE with the objective of supporting the development of the vocational ministry in Europe and collaboration between the Episcopal Conferences in this pastoral field. At the present time the bishop delegate of the CCEE for vocations is Bishop Alois Kothgasser of Innsbruck. According to the latest statistical yearbook of the Holy See, there were 2,321 ordinations to the priesthood in Europe in 2000, registering a drop over 1995 (2,435) but also a slight recovery from the previous year when ordinations to the priesthood totalled 2,311. The highest number of ordinations was registered in Poland (572), followed by Italy (527) and Spain (235). Again in 2000, the candidates to the priesthood (both diocesan and religious) in Europe totalled 26,879, a slight drop over the previous year (27,448).
