"The presence of priest and religious vocations is a test of Christian vitality for the Christian communities of a given society", but "unfortunately, in Europe, we are going through a vocational winter". On the occasion of the Seminary Day, which is being celebrated in Spain on 9 March, those words were spoken by the archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Lluís Martínez Sistach. The subject of the Seminary Day will be "If you listen to his voice today". According to the Cardinal, "the causes generating these situations are a lot". Therefore, he decided to address Christian families directly: "The Christian family stated the cardinal has always offered, and is continuing to offer, the favourable conditions for the birth of vocations. The Second Vatican Council said that families, animated with a faith, charity and piety spirit, are a sort of first seminary". Therefore, from the pastoral point of view, by working for family goodness, one pays his remarkable contribution to the birth of vocations in children". Not by chance, "one of the priority objectives of our pastoral plan for the archdiocese of Barcelona is pastoral care for marriage and the family". In short, concluded the cardinal, "a real and effective vocational pastoral should take into account working with Christian families".
