Graduate’s book inspires the National Office for Vocation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales; this leads to collaboration on both sides of the Atlantic.
A little book called Paths of Love came into the hands of the Rt. Rev. Christopher Jamison, OSB. The book intrigued him so much that he flew to Austria to meet with the author, Reverend Joseph Bolin (STL ‘07), graduate and professor of the ITI. The two discussed plans for a seminar on the Theology of Vocation. Then, Father Jamison, who is the Director of the National Office for Vocation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, organized the seminar which took place in the summer of 2012 in England.
Held in collaboration with the ITI and Boston College, USA, two ITI professors were invited to speak at the conference - Father Joseph Bolin from the USA and Father Yuriy Kolasa (STL ‘07) from Ukraine. Father Kolasa, ITI Prefect of Formation for Seminarians, was asked to present the subject from the view of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Giving the reasons for the necessity of such a seminar, Father Jamison writes in the introductory description: Many who work in the field of vocations find that there is currently no shared language of vocation among Catholics in the developed, post-modern world of Europe and North America. This is a major hindrance in carrying out the Church’s ministry of helping people to discern their vocation. Paths of Love, the book that started it all, speaks about the discernment of vocation in St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Ignatius and Pope John Paul II and how vocation should be pursued in the Church. Father Jamison was struck by Bolin’s elucidation of different schools of thought on vocation discernment and sees that “going back to the sources” could help confront the crisis in vocations.