.- Bishop Jose Francisco Ulloa of Cartago, Costa Rica is calling on priests to encourage lay Catholics to take on a greater role in spreading the faith.
In a Jan. 3 letter to the clergy members in his diocese, the bishop recalled that during his time as a parish pastor he encountered “an army of committed lay people with an enormous desire for formation and missionary commitment.”
Bishop Ulloa then expressed gratitude for the ordination of five new priests in 2010. He stressed that each parish should have “a ministry promoting vocations.
“My dream is that no parish be without seminarians,” he said.
Bishop Ulloa also thanked Pope Benedict XVI for approving the Marian Jubilee Year to mark the 375th anniversary of the devotion to Our Lady of the Angels, patroness of Costa Rica. One of the many activities planned for the Jubilee Year – which ends Aug. 2, 2011 – is a Marian Congress scheduled to take place in July.
The Continental Vocations Congress will also be held in the Diocese of Cartago Jan. 31 – Feb. 5. Some 400 people, including cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laity are expected to attend.
