Laboure giving day aims to help those pursuing vocation pay student debt

Dec. 17 is “Give to Rescue Catholic Vocations Day.”

The special day of charity was declared by the Laboure Society, which is dedicated to helping people pursue a vocation to the priesthood or religious life without student loan debt. The society, based in Eagan, Minnesota, is encouraging donations to the effort by organizing the special day.

To donate online go to https://www.charidy.com/laboure2019. The campaign is hosted on the website of Charidy, an organization that helps nonprofits with crowdfunding and other fundraising.

St. Catherine Laboure (CNS photo)

Student loans are a barrier because seminaries and religious institutions can’t afford to pay off education debt carried by vocation candidates with college degrees. By one estimate, 10,000 people each year are discerning a vocation to the priesthood or as a religious sister or religious brother, but 42 percent are blocked from pursuing the call because of student loan debt, the society says.

For a 36-hour period Dec. 17 through Dec. 18, donations to help the Laboure Society train and equip vocation candidates with financial and fundraising skills, a well as provide candidates who qualify with financial assistance, can be made online or by phone. The society’s phone number is (651) 295-2548.

The donations will be matched dollar for dollar, said Chris Foote, a spokesman for the society.

“Working together, we can help solve the vocation crisis and ensure that Catholic priests, sisters and brothers will exist in abundant numbers to confer sacramental graces, minister to the sick, form our children in the Catholic faith and care for the elderly for decades to come,” the Laboure Society said in a statement on its Charidy crowdfunding page.

Author: Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ news and information service.

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