US Bishops' Message for World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life “Consecrated men and women are a witness to the hope of a life lived in Christ...." FULL TEXT

30th World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life and Profiles of Most Recent Profession Class

The bishops' Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations has released the annual study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University that provides a report and profiles of the Profession Class of 2025.

January 27, 2026
WASHINGTON – “Consecrated men and women are a witness to the hope of a life lived in Christ that is awaited to be fully received in Heaven,” said Archbishop-designate Ronald A. Hicks, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. The committee assists bishops in promoting, supporting, and educating about the Church’s pastoral needs and concerns for the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life, and addresses issues concerning the life and ministry of bishops. Instituted by Saint John Paul II in 1997, the Catholic Church observes the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life on February 2 each year. Dioceses, parishes, and schools take the opportunity to recognize, celebrate, and pray for those in consecrated life and those discerning this state of life.

“By responding to the vocational call such as consecrated virginity, religious life, and members of secular institutes and societies of Apostolic life, consecrated men and women reveal God’s invitation to love him with one’s whole life even now while on Earth as it will be in Heaven. Living out this love can start before one enters into consecrated life through active participation in the Mass, such as being an altar server or lector, or parish ministry, and teaching the faith to God’s people,” said Archbishop-designate Hicks.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, in preparation for this celebration, commissions a study each year on newly professed men and women religious through the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. The full CARA report and profiles of the Profession Class of 2025 may be found here.

Resources on the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life are available on the USCCB’s website World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life.

###USCCB Release