Twelve men, and the Lord who calls them

On Good Shepherd Sunday, 26 April 2026, Bishop Mark Davies wrote a letter to be read at every Mass in Shrewsbury Diocese. Near the start of it he made a simple announcement that most of his people did not know.

Today, in Shrewsbury Diocese, we must give thanks for the 12 men who are at various stages of their training for the Priesthood; for the constant stream of men coming forward to engage in our Discernment Programme in both Stockport and Shrewsbury; and for those regularly attending our Vocations Group to first consider their calling.

Source: Vocations Pastoral Letter 2026, dioceseofshrewsbury.org.

Twelve men. Different ages, different backgrounds, different parishes. All formed by the Lord through the same Diocese, and all on a road that began with the same question. Could God be calling me to the priesthood?

The vocation on which all others depend

Later in the letter the Bishop wrote a line he has used for years.

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, I want to focus on the one vocation on which all other vocations in the Church depend: namely, the Ordained Priesthood.

The reason is not pride of place. It is plain logic. The Mass cannot be offered without a priest. The sacrament of reconciliation cannot be received without a priest. The Anointing of the Sick cannot be given without a priest. Christian marriage and consecrated life and the lay vocation all draw their sap from the sacraments, and the sacraments need ordained men. Pray for priests, the Bishop says, because in praying for priests you are praying for the whole Church.

The Discernment Year

The Diocese has a structure built precisely for the man who is not yet ready to apply to seminary, but who cannot get the question out of his head. It is called the Discernment Year, and it is anchored between two churches: St Joseph's, Stockport, the Eucharistic Shrine of Perpetual Adoration, dedicated by Bishop Davies on 22 October 2022; and Shrewsbury Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop, on Town Walls, SY1 1UE.

The Bishop has described it in his own words.

A house of discernment has been established between the Eucharistic Shrine of Perpetual Adoration in Stockport and Shrewsbury Cathedral to allow men to find a small community where discipleship and discernment can be lived and supported by a structured life of prayer centred on the Holy Eucharist and supported by spiritual accompaniment and study of the Scriptures, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the writings and lives of the Saints.

Source: vocations/priesthood, dioceseofshrewsbury.org.

Read that quote slowly. Four pillars: prayer centred on the Holy Eucharist, spiritual accompaniment, study of Scripture, study of the Catechism and the lives of the Saints. That is what the Discernment Year offers, in a small community of brothers, with proper structure.

The Vocations Group

For the man who is earlier on the road, the Diocese also runs the Vocations Group. It meets every two months. The pattern is steady. Eucharistic adoration. Holy Mass. A meal. Reflection. There is no commitment, no obligation. You come, you pray, you eat, you go home and think.

For many of the 12 men currently in formation, the Vocations Group was the first concrete step. It is not a binding decision. It is a way of putting yourself in the company of others asking the same question, in the presence of the One who is asking it.

Why Shrewsbury, why now

The Bishop set the present moment in a longer story. The Diocese was founded in 1851 by Pope Pius IX, with 26 priests and 20,000 faithful. Today the territory is larger, the population is wider, and the Lord is still raising up labourers for the harvest. Each ordination over the last two years, including Fr David Irwin and the two men ordained together in a single ceremony, has come out of this same diocesan ground.

Christ's words in Matthew 9:37-38 hang over the work. The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.

Your next step

If you are a man between roughly 18 and 50, baptised and confirmed Catholic, with the question of priesthood on your heart, here is what to do.

• Email Fr Sean Davidson, Director of Vocations to the Sacred Priesthood, at vocationsdirector@dioceseofshrewsbury.org. Tell him your name, your parish, your age, and one honest sentence about why you are writing.
• Ask him about the date of the next Vocations Group meeting. Put it in your diary.
• Travel to St Joseph's, Stockport. Sit before the Blessed Sacrament for an hour. Tell the Lord you are willing to listen.

The Lord called twelve apostles. He has called twelve men in our Diocese this year. He may be calling you.