Ramón Antonio Santana Castillo is a Catholic priest of the Diocese of San Pedro de Macorís in the Dominican Republic.

"He was born in the community of San Rafael in the east of the Dominican Republic. He was baptized at the age of 4 in the community where he was born, but then his family had to leave to move to the province of San Pedro de Macoris, where they were looking for quality of life and guaranteed education for their children.

I began my primary studies standing out more for my pranks than for my good grades. As a teenager, I became more dedicated and dedicated to my studies; at the same time I showed a special love for baseball, but I also excelled in basketball, soccer, martial arts and other sports.

Sports and my passion for drawing brought me back to the Church, the same Church that gave me the grace of baptism.

In 1995 he was part of the Anti-Osio Movement (MAO), an initiative of the Spanish priest Julio Silla Navarro, in which he offered a space for formation, recreation and spiritual life for all young people and adolescents of the parish and its surroundings. Attracted by the artistic drawing, he joined MAO and was captivated by the joy of the elderly priest Julio Silla. Immediately parish life began to be part of his priorities, he served as an altar boy, was part of the community of adolescents Santo Domingo Savio and then the youth group Don Bosco.

Silla as my pedagogue; from him I received teachings, motivations and corrections that I knew I had to count on to be a good man: "Ramón Antonio, if you fall a thousand times, get up a thousand and one times, but get up".

Silla, seeing his passion for young people, his eternal joy and his special love for Jesus in the Eucharist, awakened in me the questions: why not me, can I also be a priest? Since then, I have been looking for answers to my questions.

I met a seminarian, began vocational meetings, and in 1998 I entered St. Peter the Apostle minor seminary. I finished high school and was sent to the propaedeutic. At the end of the year, I entered the Pontifical Major Seminary of St. Thomas Aquinas. Between 2003 and 2012 I obtained a degree in Philosophy and Theology.

On June 29, 2012, the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the long-awaited day arrived: my priestly consecration. It was the day when all my yearnings for service, donation and dedication to the Church were focused on my first mission.

In my first year, the bishop entrusted me with the pastoral guidance of two parishes, the first of which was St. Joseph of El Valle, the same parish where I once received the grace of baptism.

That same year he was appointed diocesan director of youth ministry and delegate for the national commission.

My heart burned for youth work! The youth were my passion, the place where I could shout out that I loved Christ and his bride, the Church.

Three years later he received a new assignment, rector of St. Peter the Apostle minor seminary, and at the same time national director of youth ministry, services that he carried out with dedication and enthusiasm for more than three years.

The year 2018 was really special: I was appointed pastor of St. Joseph the Worker parish, yes, the same one in which I re-embraced my baptismal faith, in which I met Fr. Silla, the same one in which I felt the call of Jesus to serve him with full joy in the priestly vocation.

I leave my life in God's hands. God and his plans have brought me to Rome to continue my formation.

"Today I am in Rome, at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce, very close to the tomb of Peter and taking on a new mission as a student of Institutional Communication.

I am very grateful to God and to you for this opportunity you are giving me and above all for all your prayers. I keep you very present in mine."".