Join The National Office for Vocation for 'The Conversation', where they will have a panel of guests to discuss how they live out their vocation and the work they carry out in the Church.
What: Panel guests discuss how they live out their vocation and the work they carry out in the Church.
Where: Online via Zoom
When: Wednesday 17 April, 7:30pm
Tickets: Book here (Free event – only open to those residing in the United Kingdom).
We look forward to welcoming you to the evening!
Thinking more about vocation?
Love hearing individual stories talking about mission and discipleship?
Join The National Office for Vocation for ‘The Conversation’, where they will have a panel of guests to discuss how they live out their vocation and the work they carry out in the Church. See how each person is called to follow Christ in their own discipleship journey and live out their mission.
The Conversation takes place on Zoom, click the link to book a free ticket. Come with your questions to ask the panel on all things vocation and discipleship. All questions will be submitted through the chat function in the Zoom call. If you want to submit questions beforehand to make sure they reach us please email us at vocation.enquiries@cbcew.org.uk
Holly Carlsson – Married, Joel’s Bar Lead
Holly is married to Julian and mum to Ollie. She has been serving in Youth Ministry for the last 9 years and is working now as the Joel’s Bar Lead. Joel’s Bar is the young adults ministry of CELEBRATE Trust which has run Catholic Charismatic events for the last 28 years serving those aged 16-28. Holly is passionate about parish renewal, building community and most recently, Tiktok(!).
Fr Mark Odion – Missionary Society of St Paul & Policy and Research CBCEW
Rev. Fr. Mark Ehichioya Odion hails from Uromi in Edo State, Nigeria. He is the first in the family of five children. After his higher studies, he commenced his journey priesthood at the National Missionary Seminary of St. Paul, Iperu-Remo, Ogun State in 1992 where he did his noviciate for two years. He continued his priestly formation at the National Missionary Seminary of St. Paul, Gwagwalada, Abuja where he studied Philosophy and Theology for seven years. In December 2000 he incardinated into the Missionary Society of St. Paul and was ordained a Catholic Priest in July 2001.
Subsequently, he worked in Nigeria for four years and in 2005, he was sent on foreign mission to the UK. In the UK, he worked as assistant Dean at St. George’s Cathedral, Southwark Archdiocese from 2005 to 2009. He was appointed Parish Priest of the Annunciation and St Augustine of Hippo Catholic Church, Beckenham Hill from 2009 to 2015. In 2015, The General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) seconded him to work with the Home Office, in the office of the first UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, on the Nigeria Anti-Trafficking Project. In this capacity, he worked with partners to formulate a new strategic anti-slavery initiative in Nigeria. He facilitated the development of a project plan that provided support for people from the endemic areas of human trafficking in Nigeria. He led a team in scoping out community engagement on awareness programs and livelihood projects to prevent human trafficking from Nigeria to the United Kingdom. Currently at the CBCEW, he works in the Policy and Research Department. He is the current Regional Superior of the Missionary Society of St. Paul, UK Region. He loves reading, preaching, traveling and contemplation. He loves to spread God’s message of peace, love, and goodness.
Gregg Finn – Founder of the Mark 10 Mission
Greg worked as a Catholic primary school teacher for 8 years and now leads The Mark 10 Mission full time. He was inspired to create The Mark 10 Mission to help school children encounter God in their classrooms and help them to pray each day. His initial prayer of how to bring the little children to Jesus (Mark 10:14) is the cornerstone of the ministry. Greg has recently completed Level One Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training with the Dominican Sisters in Limerick.
Sr Patricia (Pat) Dowling CBS – Sister of Bon Secours and International Vocation Director
Meet Sister Pat Dowling, a Sister of Bon Secours and international vocation director based in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She advises the congregation leadership on vocation ministry and supports Bon Secours vocation directors worldwide, including England, where she has spent extended time. Her diverse experiences range from being a nursing home administrator to a missionary in Ecuador’s Andean mountains as a parish administrator and overseeing a health and dental clinic she founded.
State-side, she established a women’s resource centre in a struggling urban area and then served as the USA vocation director. Advocating for years for the “preferential option for the young”, Sr Pat realized her vision in what became Bon Secours Young Adults (BSYA) in 2014. Since hiring Nicholas Stein as the first young adult ministry leader, BSYA has expanded internationally with Nick now its international director. Chris Knowles is now establishing BSYA in England, based in Liverpool.
Sr Pat’s passion for helping people discover God’s calling takes her worldwide, including accompanying young people and BSYAs to World Youth Days. Beyond her work, she enjoys movies, historical novels, spontaneous adventures, and connecting with people, drawing on her pre-Bon Secours hotelier experience. Bringing God’s compassion, healing, and liberation to the world is the beating heart of Bon Secours (Good Help). Bonus Fun Fact: peek at Hearts Aflame, a recent book she was editor-in-chief of.
Fr Paul Kyne – Parish Priest of St Lawrence of Canterbury Church, Sidcup – Vocation Director, Archdiocese of Southwark
Fr Paul Kyne is the Director of Vocations and Parish Priest of St Lawrence of Canterbury Church, Sidcup. He also serves on the Diocesan Property Health & Safety Committee due to a career in engineering and construction prior to priesthood. Born and raised in London however widely travelled through work and leisure endeavours including many years living and working in Australia. Hobbies include keeping fit at a leisurely pace and following Arsenal Football Club.
Anna Jordan – Head of Mission and Partnerships at Youth 2000 –
Anna is Head of Mission and Partnerships at Youth 2000; a Catholic ministry that provides opportunities for young people to encounter Christ and His Church, through retreats and formation programmes. Originally from Lancashire, she moved to Sheffield in 2023 and is enjoying the vibrant young Catholic community there. Anna is passionate about equipping young people to be disciples, and loves cooking, travelling, reading, and spending time with friends.
Dr Phil McCarthy – Project Lead – Hearts in Search of God Pilgrimage Project
Phil was a GP in Bristol for many years. He held numerous leadership positions within the NHS and was Clinical Lead for the Bristol Homeless Health Service. In December 2015 he took up the role of CEO of Caritas Social Action Network, the domestic social action agency of the Catholic Church in England & Wales.
He has been interested in long distance walking for many years and in 2008 he walked from Canterbury to Rome alone. This experience awakened an interest in pilgrimage and made him realise that he was a pilgrim! In 2015 he walked on from Rome to Istanbul. He has written books about both pilgrimages. He is now leading a three-year project to promote walking pilgrimage in England & Wales by developing pilgrim ways from every Catholic cathedral to one or more shrines in the same diocese.
Pope Francis releases his Message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
