Vocations Sunday 2024: Same Baptism. Same Spirit. Same Calling.

Catholics worldwide are hungering for the full and equal participation of women at all levels in the church. So this Vocations Sunday, let’s come together and let the truth ring out: Women are ready, prepared, and called to the priesthood. Women do priestly work. And we need women priests.

On Vocations Sunday, April 21, 2024, the institutional Catholic church prays for an increase in vocations, particularly to the priesthood. At the Women’s Ordination Conference, we pray for an increase in the recognition of the baptismal equality of women that endows them with the same capacity to be called to ordained ministry.

“In Christ, women and men are clothed with the same baptismal dignity and receive equally the variety of gifts of the Spirit,” states the interim document from the ongoing Synod on Synodality. “We are called together into a communion of loving, non-competitive relationships in Christ, and to a co-responsibility to be expressed at every level of the Church’s life.”(9b)

The baptized, clothed with Christ, equally receive the gifts of the Spirit. People of all genders share a co-responsibility in furthering the life and mission of the church by responding to God’s call. We urge the church to remove any barrier to the formation, discernment, support, and ordination of people of all genders. Our theme this year is:

Same Baptism.

Same Spirit.

Same Calling.

Same Baptism: We believe in one baptism in Jesus Christ, in which all believers are baptized priest, prophet, and royalty.

Same Spirit: The Holy Spirit gives Her grace freely, abundantly, and fully to all people.

Same Calling: By virtue of our common baptism, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, all people have the capacity to be authentically called to ordained ministry.

This Vocations Sunday, the Women’s Ordination Conference calls the church to recognize the equal dignity and baptism of all God’s people and embrace the splendid reality that God calls people of all genders to ordained ministry.

Now is the time to join our efforts and be a part of our grassroots movement! Download our toolkit to learn how to plan a local event, participate via social media, and pray for all genders to be ordained to the priesthood and diaconate.

Want to learn more? Join a planning call on Friday, April 5 at noon ET (US) to learn about how to plan an event and ask questions of our staff. Register here!

List of Events (check back as list is updated):

• Boston, MA: Witness at Cathedral of the Holy Cross, (1400 Washington St) at 11:30 a.m. on April 21.
• Chicago, IL: Witness at Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State St, 2 p.m. on April 21.
• Dunbar, Scotland:  Witness outside Our Lady of the Waves Church at 10:30 a.m. on April 21.
• Leicester, UK: Prayer service and witness at St. Thomas More, Knighton, 9 – 10:30 a.m. on April 21.
• London, UK: Witness at Westminster Cathedral (Victoria St.) at 10:30 a.m. on April 21. Planned in coordination with Catholic Women’s Ordination (CWO) UK.
• Long Beach, CA: Witness at St. Bart’s (252 Granada Ave), 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Mass
• Rochester, NY: Witness at Blessed Sacrament Church (534 Oxford St), from 8:30-9:45 a.m. and 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Bring a sign and wear a purple stole or scarf.
• Sussex, UK: Witnesses at 6 p.m. on April 20 at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Bexhill; 9 a.m. on April 21 at St. Martha’s Church in Bexhill; and 11 a.m. on April 21 at St. Mary Magdalene Church.
• Tulsa, OK: Witness at St. Jerome Parish (205 W King St) at 11 a.m.
• Washington, DC: Witness at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle (1725 Rhode Island Ave. NW) at noon on April 21.