The Saint John Vianney Fellowship

Cultivating Discernment. Forming Servants.

Mater clericorum, ora pro nobis.

“A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish.”
— Saint John Vianney, Patron of Parish Priests

The Saint John Vianney Fellowship is a gap-year discernment program for recent Cornell graduates who are open to exploring a deeper vocational call in the Church. Fellows spend 3–12 months serving in campus ministry, living a structured life of prayer, service, and discernment while seeking greater clarity about how God may be calling them to serve.

Each year,  Cornell students graduate with serious vocational questions in their hearts: Could God be calling me to the priesthood? To religious life? To another path of dedicated service in the Church? The Vianney Fellowship provides the time, mentorship, and pastoral experience needed to discern those questions with freedom and clarity.

What Fellows Do

Vianney Fellows live a simple apostolic life rooted in prayer, service, and fellowship, serving alongside clergy and campus ministers.

Their experience includes:

• Daily prayer and liturgy

• Regular spiritual direction

• Mentorship from clergy and campus ministry staff

• Pastoral service with students

• Leading Bible studies, retreats, and formation events

• Visits to seminaries and religious communities

• Formation in liturgy and sacramental life

This is not primarily an academic program, but an apostolic one—a year spent serving the Church while discerning how God may be calling them to serve for life.

A Particular Need: Vocations to the Priesthood

While the fellowship is open to those discerning different forms of consecrated life, it also responds to a particular need in the Church today.

The celebration of the Eucharist and the Sacraments depends upon priests, and many dioceses are experiencing a serious shortage of priestly vocations. For this reason, the fellowship offers a supportive environment for men who may be discerning the diocesan priesthood, helping them explore that possibility with clarity and courage.

At the same time, women discerning religious life or other forms of consecrated service can also benefit from a year devoted to prayer, mission, and discernment.

The goal is not simply to produce seminarians or religious, but to form faithful, mature Catholic disciples. Some fellows may go on to seminary or religious life; others will serve the Church as devoted spouses, parents, and lay leaders. In every case, the Church is strengthened.

For many of my seminarian classmates, the time between college graduation and the start of priestly formation was aimless, anxious, solitary, and prolonged. My experience was just about the opposite, thanks to the semester I spent after graduation as a Vianney Fellow. That semester gave me practical experience and awakened in me a deep love for a wide range of ministries in the Church—from serving in the sacristy to teaching in the classroom to visiting seniors in care facilities. Just as importantly, I was supported and guided by Cornell’s priest-chaplain, campus ministry staff, and student community. Along the way, I discovered that I had never known greater joy or contentment than when I was giving myself with an undivided heart to a Catholic community I loved. What stronger foundation could a young man discerning the priesthood ask for? I will always be deeply grateful to Cornell’s staff and generous donors for providing that opportunity, and I hope many other young people with hearts eager for sacrifice and service will be able to share in a similar experience.
—Colin Murphy, Cornell Class of 2024, current Seminarian for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

A Bridge Between Faith and Mission

The Saint John Vianney Fellowship seeks to bridge a crucial moment in a young person’s life: the transition between college and lifelong vocation.

By offering a year of prayer, service, and discernment within the life of the Church, the fellowship helps young adults listen more closely to the voice of Christ and respond with courage and generosity.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
—Luke 10:2