Serra International ('Serra') is formally recognized by the Holy See as the global lay apostolate for vocations in the Catholic Church. Serra is a voluntary association of some 20,000 Catholic laymen and laywomen called Serrans. This is the official page of the international organization made up of clubs and sometimes further organized by regional councils. Each Serran is a member of a local Serra Club sanctioned by the Ordinary of the diocese in which the Serra Club is located. Since it was founded in 1935, in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., Serra has chartered 1,109 Serra Clubs in 46 countries on six continents. Serra's objectives and purposes are: -To foster and promote vocations to the ministerial priesthood in the Catholic Church as a particular vocation to service, and to support priests in their sacred ministry -To encourage and affirm vocations to consecrated religious life in the Catholic Church -To assist its members to recognize and respond in their own lives to God's call to holiness in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit