Pope Leo XIV will ordain eight men to the priesthood for the Diocese of Rome April 26 at St. Peter’s Basilica, continuing a longstanding papal practice tied to Good Shepherd Sunday.
According to Catholic Culture, the ordination will be the second priestly ordination Pope Leo has presided over in his papacy.
The ordination will take place on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday, when the Church reflects on Christ as the Shepherd Who, as Pope Leo explained last May, “knows and loves his sheep and gives his life for them.”
The day also coincides with the annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which was established in 1964 by Pope Paul VI to encourage prayer for people to answer the call to join the priesthood and religious life.
In a radio message marking the first observance, Pope Paul VI called on the faithful to pray for an increase in vocations, saying, “Let our prayer rise to heaven, from families, from parishes, from religious communities, from hospital wards, from the lips of innocent children, so that priestly vocations may increase and be in accordance with the desires of the Heart of Christ.”
Recent popes have continued the tradition of ordaining priests at the Vatican on this day. Pope Saint John Paull II ordained 26 priests during the Jubilee Year in 2000 and Pope Benedict XVI ordained 22 priests on Good Shepherd Sunday in 2007. Pope Francis also annually celebrated priestly ordinations at St. Peter’s Basilica.