Bro. Martin Bennett (far left) 
The Irish Capuchins’ Year of Vocation, launched last weekend at Knock, is a “natural progression” from how the order was in the national spotlight last year in connection with their 400th anniversary in Ireland and the centenary of the Easter Rising, the order’s vocations promoter has said.
“It’s a year to actively promote the Capuchin way of life,” Bro. Martin Bennett told The Irish Catholic,explaining that the year is directed towards both new vocations and helping current friars “tune back in to their own Capuchin vocations” to share their own vocation stories, looking outwards as well as inwards.
Commenting on how elderly members of the congregation in Knock responded with delight when asked to help pray for vocations, he said: “When people get old they’re often times left out of the loop – they’re not asked. We believe in our Capuchin tradition that our older friars are a source of wisdom, so we’re tuning into that so we can re-energise and re-focus ourselves.”
