Denver ‘Called by Name’ vocations campaign looks to plant seeds for new seminarians

Denver, Colo., May 20, 2025 /
17:28 pm

The Archdiocese of Denver launched a vocations campaign this weekend to connect young men who may be interested in pursuing the priesthood with the archdiocese.

The “Called By Name” campaign invites parishioners across the archdiocese to nominate young men ages 15 to 35 who they think may have the qualities to become a priest.

The archdiocese is one of nine dioceses currently collaborating with Vianney Vocations, an organization founded in 2009 that helps support vocations efforts in Catholic dioceses around the U.S.

Men who are nominated by their fellow parishioners will receive a letter from the archbishop congratulating them for being recognized.

The letter encourages them to be open to God’s call in their lives and invites them to connect with Father Jason Wallace, the archdiocesan director of vocations, who will send a weekly message about discernment to nominees. Nominees are also invited to attend the small discernment groups led by priests or deacons trained by Vianney Vocations.

While Denver is one of the leading dioceses in the U.S. for vocations by size, according to a 2025 report, Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila has in recent years expressed his hope to see more seminarians in the growing archdiocese. 

“Denver is good soil, so we’re really hopeful that there’ll be a lot of fruit from this,” Chris Kreslins, senior client manager for Vianney Vocations, told CNA. 

Rather than recruiting abroad, many bishops are moving toward encouraging “homegrown guys” to discern and apply for seminary, Kreslins noted.

“The hope and the goal is that there will be more men applying for seminary,” Kreslins said. 

With more priests, “parishes will have the priests they need to minister to the people of God” and priests will not be “so thinly stretched,” he noted. 

These vocation campaigns across the country come amid a decadeslong decline in men pursuing the priesthood. Globally, the number of priests has been decreasing in recent years, except in Africa and Asia, where vocations to the priesthood are on the rise.  

To kick off the campaign in Denver on Sunday, priests across the archdiocese shared their vocation stories in their homilies and invited parishioners to nominate young men to consider discerning. 

“Some men may need to hear from others that their faith is recognized and that they possess the qualities of a good priest,” Kreslins explained. “Sometimes, we need another person to lead us to Jesus.” 

Father Brian Larkin, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Englewood, Colorado, shared his own experience discerning the priesthood in a homily on Sunday.

“When I was wrestling with if God was calling me, my first question wasn’t necessarily the office of priesthood,” Larkin said. “My question was, ‘God, are you calling me to give you everything?’”

“I felt this pull on my heart that God was calling me to give up my hopes and my dreams,” Larkin said. “What I saw at first was just a price tag.”  

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“Maybe some of you are called to the priesthood. Maybe some of you are called to a consecrated life. I don’t know,” Larkin said to an array of parishioners. “You are called to a radical love, and I do know that. Every single one of us [is].”

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in the faith and the number of Catholics. But then we also have a need when we see that growth, to serve all those people,” Wallace told the Denver Catholic. “The Archdiocese of Denver is in need of many more vocations.”

In his homily, Larkin prayed for more priests who are “on fire” for God.  

“Jesus, we pray for more priests — not just any priests,” Larkin said. “Only priests [who] will be on fire with the love of God. Not men who are perfect, not men who have no mistakes, not men who know everything, but men whose hearts have been transformed.”