More Than 40 Religious Communities, Dioceses, and Vocation Organizations Will Gather to Encourage Vocational Discernment.
Franciscan University of Steubenville will host its 31st annual Religious Vocations Fair on Friday, October 9, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Pope St. Paul VI Event Center, Christ the Teacher Hall.
More than 40 religious communities, dioceses, and vocation organizations will be represented at this year’s fair, giving Franciscan students and Catholics from across the Ohio Valley and beyond an opportunity to meet priests, religious brothers and sisters, consecrated women, and others who have responded to God’s call.
“Each one of us has a personal vocation, a singular call from God the Father to intimacy with Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. That call is deeply personal, and for some, that personal call will be to live in intimacy with the Lord in a religious vocation,” said Father Jonathan St. André, TOR, vice president of Franciscan Life. “All who attend the Religious Vocations Fair at Franciscan University are not simply learning about various states in life. They are encountering men and women who have said yes to Christ and witnessing firsthand the joy that comes from giving your life completely to him.”
Representatives will come from a broad range of religious traditions and charisms, including Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, Augustinians, Jesuits, Paulists, Passionists, the Sisters of Life, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, and many others.
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Diocese of Pittsburgh, and Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh will also participate.
The fair is organized through Franciscan University’s Office for Personal Vocation and Koinonia, the University’s priestly discernment household.
“Discernment of one’s state of life is always enriched by an encounter with other people who can share the ways they have heard God’s call during their own discernment journey,” said David Schmiesing, dean for Personal Vocation. “A conversation with a priest, sister, brother, or consecrated woman can open new possibilities, answer questions, and help a young person recognize how God has already been working in his or her life. That is what makes this fair so valuable.”
Among the 45 participating groups are the Franciscan Friars, TOR; Franciscan Sisters, TOR of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother; Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter; Felician Sisters of North America; Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal; Missionaries of the Precious Blood; Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal; Franciscan Friars Conventual; Capuchin Franciscans; Sisters of Christian Charity; Little Sisters of the Poor; Daughters of Saint Paul; Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; Legionaries of Christ; Society of Jesus; and others.
The Religious Vocations Fair is free and open to the public. Local parish groups, families, and individuals discerning their vocation are especially encouraged to attend.
