Francis spoke at an event to mark the close of the Year for Consecrated Life

Respond to the crisis of vocations with intensified prayer, rather than despair or a lax admissions process, Pope Francis told women and men religious.

He said he is tempted to lose hope, too, asking God, “What is happening? Why is the womb of consecrated life sterile?”

But he warned against fast fixes, saying some religious “congregations experiment with ‘artificial insemination,’” in which they accept anybody, leading to a host of problems.

The vocations process must be done “with seriousness, and one must discern well that this is a true vocation and help it grow,” he told members of religious orders, secular institutes and consecrated virgins on Monday in the Vatican audience hall.

Read the full article at the Catholic Herald