The process of joining the community can sometimes take awhile.
First of all, we must have the opportunity to get to know one another in order to discern if you have an authentic religious vocation of service to Holy Mother Church as either a Priest, Deacon, Brother, Sister, Virgin or Hermit.
Perhaps you are already an ordained priest or deacon, professed brother or sister, or consecrated virgin or hermit, within a jurisdiction outside of the canonical Catholic Church, and you are now seeking to enter into communion with Holy Mother Church and to minister within Her sacred jurisdiction.
The Catholic Church offers a variety of vocational paths for persons of varying charisms and from various liturgical rites. We welcome persons from Latin, Byzantine, Alexandrian, Armenian, East Syriac and West Syriac traditions. We maintain a licit and valid tripartite priesthood: the deacons (permanent and transitional), priests, and bishops. Among the traditional religious vocations for the laity we offer the option of either professed life, as a brother or sister, or consecrated life, as a virgin or hermit.
We invite you to email us, and to tell us about yourself, your faith journey, and the religious calling which you are discerning.
After reviewing your information, either His Holiness Pope Michael II or Sr. Simone, his Secretary, will be in touch with you in order to schedule face to face discussion. We ask everyone who is exploring a vocation with us to take part in video confetence calls using Zoom. That enables more spontaneous interchange than is possible by email alone.
After a period of mutual discernment, you will be invited to spend a week or two in a pre-postulantcy period. This will give you a chance to see something of our life from the inside and to experience something of its demands. It will also allow us to get to know you at a deeper level. If all goes well and you ask to join, we will begin the formal process of admission to the novitiate. Then rigorous studies will begin to ensure you have a solid spiritual foundation, in order to minister effectively in your selected field.
We have to satisfy the requirements of both Canon and civil law so that means some paperwork has to be completed. To give you an idea of what is involved, you will be asked to:
1. Provide us with a bried background biography which gives some basic information about yourself, e.g. where you were born, your education, employment, etc. This should also contain a declaration that you have no overly imposing obligations due to debts or caring for dependents which would inhibit one from freely undertaking the obligations of studying for the religious life.
2. Provide certificates of Baptism and Confirmation (also certificates of Reception into Full Communion/Annulment of Marriage, as appropriate.
3. Give the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of at least two referees who we may contact. One should normally be your confessor or spiritual director if you have one, or at any rate someone who can speak with real knowledge of your spiritual development, seriousness of purpose, etc.
4. Have a medical exam done.
5. Provide a copy of some legal form of government identification; provide evidence that you fulfill the requirements of civil law regarding visas, etc if you are not a citizen of your country of residence.
This may sound a bit daunting, but it is just something we have to work through. Please take it as a general guide rather than a detailed account of a process which is, after all, intended to help you become the person God wants you to be, in the place He wants you to be.
To begin the formal process of discerning your vocation in the Catholic Church, please email: office(at)vie-official.org
Memorandum Circular 2025-02
The following subjects must be offered to seminarians:
A. Revelation
1. Old Testament
2. New Testament
3. Church History (; Ancient to Contemporary History)
4. Patrology
5. Liturgy
6. Sacraments/ Sacramentals
B. Faith
1. Moral Theology
2. Canon Law 1917
3. Bioethics
4. Social Doctrine of the Church ( Papal Encyclicals )
5. Mystical Theology
In Christ,HIS HOLINESS POPE MICHAEL II
Note: The training for the priesthood should be done through tutorial basis or one on one discipleship by the local bishop or priest.