What is a Vocation?

Fr. Alan Valencia
Director of Vocations and Seminarians

(520) 838-2531
[email protected]

 
Sophia Herrera
Administrative Assistant to Vocations

(520) 838-2537
[email protected]

Vocations Office
(520) 838-2531
[email protected]

Put simply, your Vocation is "your calling" in the Church.

We are all called to holiness as we journey towards our eternal home. The question becomes: which Vocation best leads you to unity with God in Heaven?



If you feel that you have been called by God to live a religious life, then you might already be in the process of discerning whether you have been called to the priesthood or religious life. Or, maybe you aren't quite sure what the differences are between these two distinct forms of Holy Orders.

Diocesan Priests

A diocesan priest is based in a particular diocese, where his mission is to serve the daily sacramental and pastoral needs of his parish. His parish is assigned to him by the bishop of his diocese. 

Diocesan priests take vows of obedience and celibacy, but do not take the additional vow of poverty observed by religious priests.

Religious Priests

Priests from religious orders are not based in a particular diocese. Instead, a religious priest is assigned by his superior where he will live and perform his ministry. This could be in the U.S. or another country. As such, the life of the religious priest is largely dependant upon what his talents are and where his superior sends him. 

The mission of a religious priest is to serve the Church in the ministry areas of teaching, preaching, outreach to the poor, and other special areas of need. 

Like diocesan priests, religious priests also take vows of obedience and celibacy. But, in addition to these vows, religious priests also take the vow of poverty renouncing any personal property or salary.

Apostolic religious life is a form of consecrated life within the Church wherein members (these can be brothers, sisters, or religious priests) take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience within a religious order recognized by the Church. 

Learn More

The 35 religious orders for men and women in the Diocese of Tucson include:

Religious Orders of Women

• Adrian Dominican Sisters
• Congregation of St. Agnes
• Daughter of the Heart of Mary
• Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose
• Dominican Sisters of Oakford
• Dominican Sisters of Peace
• Franciscan Missionaries of Jesus Crucified
• Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity
• Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate
• Franciscan Sisters of Peace
• Medical Mission Sisters
• Minim Sisters of Mary Immaculate
• Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart
• Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
• School Sisters of Notre Dame
• School Sisters of St. Francis
• Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
• Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi
• Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
• Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary
• Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
• Trappistines (Cistercians of the Strict Observance)
• Wheaton Franciscans

Religious Orders of Men

• Carmelite Fathers and Brothers
• Congregation of the Holy Spirit
• Discalced Carmelites
• Franciscan Friars
• Jesuit Fathers and Brothers
• La Sallian Christian Brothers
• Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette
• Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales
• Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity
• Order of Preachers (Domincans) 
• Redemptorist Fathers
• Society of the Divine Savior

In the Catholic Church, deacons who are not planning to be ordained priests are referred to as permanent deacons, while deacons preparing for the priesthood are called transitional deacons.

The Second Vatican Council decreed that the permanent diaconate is open to married men over the age of 35.

Deacons most often serve in a parish setting, under the immediate supervision of the pastor of that parish.

A deacon’s duties can include: 

• proclaiming the Gospel
• teaching in the name of the Church
• leading the faithful in prayer
• witnessing marriages
• wake and funeral services
• marshaling the Church's resources to meet the needs of others

☎  Contact the Director for Deacons:

Deacon Rick Valencia

✆ (520) 838-2543
✉  [email protected]

Getting married and having a family is just as much of a Vocation as becoming a priest or brother or sister in a religious community. Catholic marriage is a sacrament, a Vocation, and a sign of one's love for Christ.

"When the Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a Christian Vocation, it is saying that the couple's relationship is more than simply their choice to enter a union which is a social and legal institution. In addition to these things, marriage involves a call from God and a response from two people who promise to build, with the help of divine grace, a lifelong, intimate, and sacramental partnership of love and life.

"In Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis writes: 'Marriage is a Vocation, inasmuch as it is a response to a specific call to experience conjugal love as an imperfect sign of the love between Christ and the Church. Consequently, the decision to marry and to have a family ought to be the fruit of a process of Vocational discernment (no. 72).'

"The Vocation to marriage is a call to a life of holiness and service within the couple's own relationship and in their family. As a particular way of following the Lord, this Vocation also challenges a couple to live their marriage in a way that expresses God's truth and love in the world." (USCCB's For Your Marriage)

Learn More

When the Church speaks about single life as a Vocation, it is referring to consecrated single life.

Consecrated single life, sometimes referred to as chaste single life, is a life dedicated to God through private or public vows. 

While all single people are called to refrain from sex until marriage, the person called to the consecrated single life dedicates himself or herself permanently and privately to living celibately for the sake of advancing God’s kingdom on Earth and in Heaven.