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What kind of home is the most fertile ground for religious vocations? What characterizes the parents of children who become nuns, priests, brothers, and consecrated virgins?
Are they holier than most? Is their family life more filled with Catholic practices and devotions? And is there anything that other parents can learn from their experience?
To find answers to these questions, I spoke with a good number of new priests and sisters, and their parents, from various parts of the United States Much of what they told me confirmed my earlier observations. There were also a few surprises, as well as encouragement for my own vocation as a parent. I hope the following selection of family snapshots has the same inspiring effect on you.
There’s a Range. On the more overtly Catholic end of the spectrum is the family in which John Paul Erickson grew up. Ordained in 2006, he serves as associate pastor of the Cathedral of St. Paul, Minnesota. Two of his five siblings…
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