BY Daniel Harkins | September 19 | 
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Paisley bishop in vocations awareness drive among young Catholics
Bishop John Keenan spoke to schoolchildren from across Paisley Diocese this week as part of a vocations awareness drive that reached out to the future of the Church.
Yesterday the bishop met in St Mirin’s Cathedral Hall with S6 students from each of the eight secondary schools in the diocese. Speaking during Vocations Awareness Week, which was launched last Sunday, Bishop Keenan told the Faithful young Catholics about religious life and the priesthood, and offered them his experiences of the Church.
The S6 conference is an annual event, with Bishop Keenan taking part in his first, following in the footsteps of his predecessors going back to Bishop Emeritus John Mone. It will be followed by individual visits Bishop Keenan will make to each of the schools, where he will spend a morning in prayer with the pupils and take part in a wider conversation with them.
Following on from yesterday’s events, the bishop will, this morning, lead celebration of Mass in St Mirin’s Cathedral with P7 pupils from the 32 primary schools in the diocese alongside teachers, school chaplains and a number of Paisley parish priests.
Speaking before the week’s events, Bishop Keenan said he sees the involvement and participation of young people within the life of the diocese both as a priority and an investment in the future as a community of faith.
Fr Thomas Boyle, parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes in Bishopton and assistant general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said that the schools conference provided ‘an opportunity for sixth years in the diocese to reflect on vocations and about what it means to be a part of the Church.’
“It has special significance this year because the bishop has been going around and listening to people and giving his ideas of how the diocese can grow in the future, and he wants to speak to young people about that,” he said. “We want young people to grow in their commitment to Christ and his Church. We want them to realise that they are the future of the Church and they need to take a leadership role in their faith in their own school and their homes. And of course we are looking for vacations to the priesthood and religious life as well.”
Fr Boyle believes that young people bring a unique energy to the Church and are a crucial part of its future.
— Pic: Paul McSherry
— Read the full version of this story in Sept 19 edition of the SCO in parishes from Friday.
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