Father Erick Vílchez is a Peruvian who personally knew the Pope Leo XIV. When he was a seminarian and was training to be a priest, he attended the episcopal ordination of Robert Francis Prevost as master of ceremonies. He belongs to the territorial prelature of Chota, suffragan of the archdiocese of Piura.
"I have known Pope Leo XIV since he was Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo. As those who know him have stated, I always saw him as a very close person, with a great capacity for dialogue, who knows how to listen, smiling and very obedient. He has a lot of strength. But above all I would emphasize his deep love for the Church."emphasizes Don Erick.
But what he remembers most fondly was the day he participated as master of ceremonies in the episcopal ordination of Leo XIV on December 12, 2014.
Erick's first encounter with the Pope Leo XIV The first time I spoke with Monsignor Robert, when he had just arrived in Chiclayo, I introduced myself and told him: "Monsignor, we are in charge of the liturgy, we are here to serve". I remember that with his simplicity and with a smile he answered me: "Well, just in case, I am very obedient. So let's prepare in the best way". There, I saw that closeness, his simplicity of that then Monsignor Robert, now Holy Father", declared Erick.
Don Erick was formed and studied at the seminary of St. Toribio de Mogrovejo in Chiclayo (Peru) when Monsignor Robert Francis Prevost Martinez was bishop of the diocese. He was ordained in 2019 at the age of 26. He is currently studying for a Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology at the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra.
The seminar has a agreement with the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarra for the affiliation of the theological quadrennium of the seminary. This agreement was endorsed by a decree of the Congregation for Catholic Education on seminaries and institutes of study, which is renewed every five years.
On May 8 last year, the company was awarded the baccalaureate exam of four seminarians of Santo Toribio with the visit of the Prof. Félix María Arocenaof the University of Navarra.
Erick also recalls that he met Bishop Prevost in a prison in Chiclayo to assist prisoners and celebrate the sacraments in prison. "In some conversations I had with him, he insisted that we must be formed with a missionary mentalityWe need to value the sense of mission, starting with our own, with those closest to us," he points out.
This Peruvian priest is hopeful that the new Pope Leo XIV, who has dual American and Peruvian nationality, will encourage many young Peruvians to consider returning to the Catholic Church and others to join the Catholic Church. deepen their vocationwhether to become a priest, for religious consecration or as a lay person, celibate or in a vocational marriage commitment.
"The Pope is always the Pope, but we are very happy to have a Peruvian Pope, I feel very excited," exclaims Erick.
Christian Munayco Peves is another Peruvian priest, a native of Cañete, who has just finished his degree in Canon Law at the University of Navarra. He belongs to the diocese of Ayacucho in the highlands of the Peruvian Andes. He completed his philosophical-theological studies at the San Martin de Porres Major Seminary in Lima and concluded them at the Juan XXIII Higher Institute of Theological Studies.
He was ordained a priest on the feast of St. Josemaría Escrivá, June 26, 2021. Christian tells how he met Leo XIVMy archbishop was twice elected president of the bishops' conference. That meant that I was constantly coming to the bishops' conference to meet and discuss matters. In the corridors of the conference I remember meeting the man who is now the Holy Father. We exchanged a cordial greeting, but not beyond that. Of those few experiences, I can say that he is an affable, friendly person, of few words, but above all extremely simple and close".
For him, Pope Leo XIV has been a shepherd in constant communion and communication with his faithful, and his visit to Peru only recognizes that God can be followed and served outside our own lands, with a missionary spirit of service, abnegation and personal oblivion.
He also says that, among his fellow Peruvians, knowing that the Pope knows his territory very well, "we appreciate it with great courage, his stance of always confronting with the truth, realities and circumstances that have demanded his defense and listening, on issues concerning social order, charity and justice".
For this priest, who comes from a deeply Catholic family that guided him on the path of his vocation, the election of a Peruvian Pope will stir the conscience of the young people of Peru to consider their vocation: "Undoubtedly, this election is a living and effective testimony that one can be happy in the midst of the world, serving and working in God's enterprise, saving souls.
The environment in which Pope Leo worked-both as an Augustinian religious and as a bishop- was always in the midst of young people, the same people who, since their election, have been called to rethink with greater interest their closeness to the Church and the parish, to reconsider that, in parallel to the life and professional work that each one of them carries out, one can be a saint, with that patent restlessness of knowing that many times God asks for more, because he knows more, and because he wants more from those he loves", he affirms.
For him, the first words of the Holy Father on Sunday in the Regina Coeli to young people: Do not be afraid, accept Christ's invitation! We refer with special affection to the words of St. John Paul II, also at the beginning of his pontificate.
"Therefore, it is a message of hope.We cannot be afraid to experience a life that, for purely human reasons, tends to go against the designs and proposals of love and forgiveness outlined by Jesus.
Faced with this dissonance, God counts on us to be co-redeemersto carry with him the cross of human logic, which often tries to diminish the value and validity of his message. Therefore, the message of "not being afraid" invites us to bet on the truth, even though its defense entails the offensive of suffering, exclusion, or injustice, but behind it opens a huge door to heaven," Christian explains.
This young priest believes that today, to care for vocations in general, and in Peru in particular, the answer is: with a true witness of priestly life. "For this reason, I cannot fail to thank the Spanish missionary priests who, leaving their homelands, promoted priestly vocations in my parish. They were faithful witnesses and credible models that opting for the priesthood was a decision that led to happiness".
For Don Christian, the papal election has been very joyful news for all Peruvians.It has not only awakened overflowing and gratifying emotions, but has also given us back our enthusiasm for the things of God, and that important spiritual sense of identification and belonging to our local Church".
He is also struck, with a deep sense of hope, by the fact that the Pope has spoken of unityThe Church, in the midst of a world divided by hatred, political calculations, wars of arms, but also by wars of a spiritual nature that try to divide the Church, is a world divided by hatred, political calculations, wars of arms, but also by wars of a spiritual nature that try to divide the Church.
"We trust that, assisted by the Holy Spirit, and united to our prayers, the Church will go in the right direction, because it has a good shepherd whose goal is to ensure that each of his sheep not only walk in the good fold, but above all that they do not get lost. I want to take this opportunity to thank the CARF Foundation for allowing many of us priests to be trained to serve with better academic means the people that God entrusts to us", concludes Christian Munayco Peves.
Marta Santínjournalist specializing in religion.
