Vianney Vocations provides pathway to discernment

·        New strategy garners 750 candidate recommendations

·        Special collection to support program June 7-8

Memo Gutiérrez Carbajal began his vocational discernment at age 18 in the Archdiocese of Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. He is currently a seminarian in the Diocese of Boise. (Photo/ Gisselle Montalván)

By Philip A. Janquart

ICR Assistant Editor

BOISE – A new initiative to foster priestly vocations in the Diocese of Boise has resulted in more than 750 recommendations for potential candidates, marking a significant step forward in cultivating Idaho’s next generation of priests.

Dubbed “Vocation Pathway,” the strategic plan was developed by Vianney Vocations, a national organization dedicated to building a culture of vocations within dioceses. (Find out more at vianneyvocations.com.)

The initiative, which includes a special collection at parish Masses June 7-8, began with the formation and training of a dedicated vocation team. Their task: to identify faithful young men and accompany them in their discernment process.

“We’ve united forces with them,” said Father Nathan Dail, who is pastor and director of campus ministry at St. Paul’s Parish and Student Center on the Boise State University campus, and vocations director for the Diocese of Boise.

“Rarely do you see one person in both of those positions,” he told the Idaho Catholic Register (ICR). “I work at the center; it’s my full-time job, and vocations work is on the side. Their (Vianney Vocations) only job is to help facilitate a culture of vocations in our diocese, and they are very effective at it.”

Vianney Vocations, headquartered in Tallahassee, Fla., was founded by former Catholic seminarian Sam Alzheimer in 2009. The organization’s mission is to renew the Church by inspiring a new generation of priestly and religious vocations. It comprises a team of communication experts who assist over 100 diocesan vocation offices nationwide in reaching young Catholics and inspiring them to open their hearts to God’s call.

Some of the dioceses utilizing the Vocation Pathway strategy include Denver, Colo., New York, N.Y., Bridgeport, Conn., Fall River, Mass., Savannah, Ga., Jackson, Miss., Gaylord, Mich. and Altoona-Johnstown, Penn. 

Bishop Peter Christensen shares his vocation story with a group of young men from Saint Paul’s Parish in Nampa, who responded to the "Called by Name" discernment program. (Photo courtesy/Father Robert Méndez)

How it works

The program launched in the Diocese of Boise in February 2025 with its “Called by Name” component.

Priests across Idaho began by sharing personal stories about their call to the priesthood in Sunday homilies. Parishioners were then invited to submit names of young men they believed might be good candidates.

After accounting for about 200 duplicates, more than 500 unique names were collected, representing youth to young adults in their 20s.

“Called by Name is something we are going to do every year from now on,” Father Dail said. “This is the first time we have done this, and we had incredible results. It shows that people are looking for potential priests in their diocese and their parishes.”

It’s a striking number, according to Vianney Vocations Pathway Manager Chris Kreslins, who works from his office in Spokane, Wash. He is the former director of Youth and Young Adult Evangelization for the Diocese of Boise. He joined Vianney last June and has proved a crucial link for Father Dail in his quest to ramp up vocations in Idaho.

“I would say that Boise performed well above average,” he told the ICR, adding that even some larger dioceses across the country failed to match Idaho’s success.

“I mean, just a word of congratulations and thanks to the people in the pews,” Kreslins said. “That says something about the Church in Idaho; it says something about the young men, as well, but also about parishioners and their willingness to take part in this.”

Margaret Hampton, development coordinator for the Diocese of Boise, echoed the sentiment, stating that the Idaho results outpaced dioceses where the Vocations Pathway plan has been implemented.

“We are second only to the Diocese of Austin, Texas,” she told the ICR, noting that 1,200 men were recommended as potential candidates for the priesthood in that diocese.

The Diocese of Austin comprises 25 counties in Central Texas and over 625,000 Catholics, including 216 priests, 240 permanent deacons, approximately 30 brothers and 84 sisters, according to its website.

In comparison, the Diocese of Idaho has 47 active priests statewide and 11 men in formation for the priesthood.

Fathers Justin Brady, Goodluck Ajaero, and Robert Méndez welcomed young men discerning a call to priesthood to St. Paul’s Parish in Nampa. The priests answered questions about priestly life. (Photo courtesy/Father Robert Méndez)

What now?

Once the cards were collected, the candidate information was entered into a database organized by parish. Each candidate aged 15 and older received a letter of congratulations from Bishop Peter F. Christensen, recognizing them and encouraging them to remain open to God’s call.

Father Dail then sent a follow-up letter by mail, which included a pamphlet about the priesthood.

“The letter lets them know who I am and what’s going on in our diocese as far as vocation retreats and other events they might want to attend,” he said. “It’s really to make them aware that we are doing this every year now, that there will be more opportunities for them and that they can come to me when they need to. We are planting a seed; often that’s all it takes.”

The letter also informed the candidates that they would receive one email message per week over the next year, Father Dail encouraging them not to unsubscribe but to receive the messages with an open heart.

However, the first order of business after the diocese hired Vianney Vocations was to form a team of 11 Idaho priests to run discernment groups, an effort dubbed the “Melchizedek Project.”

“All the priests on the team are trained to run those discernment groups in a specific way,” Kreslins said. “The guys nominated through the Called by Name campaign are invited to participate in the Melchizedek Project and are presented the opportunity to participate in a seminary visit or discernment retreat. The likelihood of a guy who's done all three of those things – checks all three boxes – applying for the seminary is pretty high.”

Hampton said that four discernment groups have already begun under the Melchizedek Project, with approximately 40 men having started the process as of May 12. In addition, 10 visited seminaries in April.

Discerning the call

Father Dail’s journey began with a phone call in high school, the ensuing discussion triggering a typical reaction.

“It was a priest, and he told me I was named as a possible candidate for the priesthood,” he said. “I didn’t want to hear anything about it,” he recalled.

But the seed had been planted, germinated for a time and eventually blossomed, leading him to seminary and, ultimately, to the priesthood.

Father Dail was born in Colfax, Calif. in 1987, but calls Moscow, Idaho home since moving there with his parents when he was only two. He attended the University of Idaho and Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon, and was ordained by Bishop Christensen in 2018. Before his ministry at St. Paul’s Student Center at BSU, he served as parochial vicar at All Saints Parish in Lewiston, Idaho.

Father Nathan Dail (ICR photo)

“We are all on a journey, and how many men, even in their 20s, know what they want to do with the rest of their lives?” said Hampton. “It’s beautiful that they are even considering the priesthood. We are creating a culture where it’s Ok, and giving them a pathway to do that; where it’s Okay to talk about it. Especially now, when the world is so noisy, with our phones and computers, and with the media constantly in our face; it's difficult for a lot of us to hear the Lord’s calling.”

She added that the distractions are one reason that dioceses across the country are seeing men answer the call to priesthood later in life.

Hampton explained that studies have shown that men who eventually became priests were encouraged or inspired by others who asked them.

“It’s planting that seed,” she said.

And that’s the way it often happens, according to Father Dail, who said that many young men don’t hear, or perhaps dismiss, a call to the priesthood until someone says, “Hey, you’d make a good priest.” He said it has been challenging to plant those seeds in his dual roles.

“When you have such a big diocese, there’s no way I’m getting around as much as I should or could to help put out the questions to young men: ‘Are you discerning priesthood, do you feel called?’” he said. “As St. Paul says, ‘faith comes from what is heard,’ and so does the priesthood.”

He added: “Vocations come from what is heard from God in prayer, the priests in the Mass, and people saying to them, ‘You look like you have the qualities of a priest. You look like you could be a good priest. I see your devotion to God, I see that you take the Mass seriously, I see that you are a capable young man,” Father Dail explained.

And, as Margaret Hampton noted, you don’t have to be perfect to answer the call.

“I imagine there are a lot of young people out there, saying, ‘Me?’” she said.

Hampton noted it was the same for St. Augustine, who initially doubted his call.

“If you look at his life and many of our saints, they probably did not feel worthy of God’s love," she said. "In fact, a lot of them grappled with it; we all grapple with God’s love, much less being called to be a nun or a priest. But God loves us anyway.”

(Photo/CNA/Gregory Dean/Shutterstock)

Funding?

The Diocese of Boise funds seminarian education primarily through its annual budget, which is supported, along with many other ministries, by the Idaho Catholic Appeal.

Considering the continued growth of Idaho’s Catholic community, Bishop Christensen has set a goal of supporting 20 seminarians annually to meet the needs of a growing Catholic population.

“We are considered a mission diocese due to the extremely under-resourced areas that we serve across the state, which includes 94 parishes and missions, 15 Catholic elementary schools and two high schools, and three campus ministry student centers,” Hampton noted. “Nearly 50% of the Catholic population is in the Treasure Valley area alone, including nine parishes, seven schools and one campus ministry. Priests are needed in the Idaho Church to provide the Mass, sacraments and guide us in our spiritual journey.”

Hampton added that, due to the shortage of priests in Idaho, the diocese must rely on numerous religious orders and international priests to serve the faithful.

A special collection, the Diocesan Vocations Special Collection, will be held at Masses statewide June 7-8 to help sustain the Vocation Pathway campaign. You can also contribute online at idahovocations.com.

“The Diocesan Vocations Special Collection will help support the Vocations Office, including this new initiative, and fund the formation and education of a new class of seminarians we are anticipating to meet the needs of our growing Catholic community in Idaho,” Hampton said. “Funding sources are the Idaho Catholic Appeal, earned interest income from endowment, this Special Collection, and grants and donations.”

The Roman Catholic Church in Idaho now serves more than 280,000 Catholics, according to the Diocese’s Development Office, spread across 83,557 square miles. The seeds planted through Vocation Pathway may be key to ensuring priests are there to serve them for generations to come.