Gabriel Hernán Méndez (Honduras(1994) is a 30-year-old seminarian from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, who belongs to the Diocese of Santa Maria de las Gracias and dreams of helping young people in Honduras to leave gang violence behind. He is currently in his third year of Theology at the University of Navarra and resides in the Bidasoa International Seminar.
Although his family was not religious, the influence of his grandmother, who taught him to pray, was decisive. However, in his adolescence he drifted away from the faith and stopped attending Mass, as constant changes of address and youthful interests distanced him from the Church. In spite of this, he felt an inner attraction to the faith that never disappeared.
"In my adolescence, I completely distanced myself from the Church and everything related to religion. This was mainly due to my parents' work commitments, which forced us to move frequently, which prevented me from having a fixed place to attend Mass. Also, because of my age, there were other things that caught my interest. However, deep down, I always felt attracted to the things of the Church", Gabriel tells us.
Years later, a nun invited him to a catechesis to receive Confirmation. Gabriel agreed, initially motivated by the presence of a classmate he liked, but over time he began to get involved in Church activities. Upon receiving the sacrament, the bishop asked him how he was going to serve a poor Church like the one in Honduras, words that resonated deeply with him.
A seminarian, now a priest, invited him to vocational discernment meetings for young high school graduates who wanted to discover their vocation. At the end of 2013, Gabriel received acceptance to enter the major seminary Nuestra Señora de Suyapa in Tegucigalpa, where he began his formation in 2014 at the age of 19, although without the support of his family.
"It was a new experience for me, as I left without the support of my family, who, not practicing the faith, did not understand my decision to enter the seminary," he says.
After finishing Philosophy (2017) various circumstances led him to put a pause in his presbyteral formation and return home. He started working in a group of companies dedicated to commerce, which represented a new challenge for him, as he had to adapt to another lifestyle and work environment.
"Here I must mention a person that God put in my path: Magdalena Méndez, the owner of the group of companies. She trusted me and gave me the job even though I had no experience whatsoever," says Gabriel.
As time went by, he was promoted in the company and one day he was offered the position of General Manager and legal representative of the company. He had achieved many things he had never imagined. However, in spite of everything, the idea of becoming a priest always kept echoing in his head: "There was a kind of emptiness inside me," confesses this young man from Honduras.
Throughout this time she maintained communication with her spiritual director. Later, he was appointed bishop of a new diocese in Honduras and invited him to an experience in a parish in his diocese to help him in his discernment process.
"In January 2023, I resigned from my job and moved to the San Matías Apóstol Shrine in La Campa, Lempira (Honduras) where Father Rubén Gómez accompanied me. While I was there, the opportunity arose to come to Spain to an international seminary, the one in Bidasoa. The bishop made me the proposal, which I accepted, and in August 2023 I arrived in Pamplona, where I resumed my formation and studies with a view to priestly ordination".
During all this time Gabriel never stopped praying and asking God what he wanted for his life. "I grew up among maras and gangs. Honduras is a country with a lot of violence where young boys join violent gangs. Some of these young people saw me close to the Church and came to talk to me. To accompany these young people I thought: I believe that God is asking me to be a priest. From my example of life perhaps I can drag these young people to another way of life and that they discover that not only the mara or the gang is the only way out", he relates with emotion.
He is saddened when he thinks that some of his classmates have not finished high school because they have entered the violent world of gangs. "My city, San Pedro Sula, is marked by gangs and maras, and many young people see no other way out than to go there because they see the group as a family, which they have not found at home. They suffer from emotional deprivation and family emptiness," he laments.
Gabriel aspires to be a committed priest, firstly, in the spiritual field, evangelizing, and transmitting the love that God has for all these young people. And, secondly, by supporting the creation of rehabilitation centers: "When a young person enters a gang, they are not allowed to leave. That is why it is important to create these centers to take in children before they enter these organizations, to teach them trades that occupy their minds.
In this mission, Gabriel is grateful for the work of the Church, which has centers and religious congregations dedicated to working with young people at social risk. However, the job is complicated by the fact that, for many of these young people, gangs represent the only viable way out. In addition, the government shows great disinterest in addressing this problem.
Another problem in Honduras is the influence of sects.Today Catholics are no longer the majority in a country that has traditionally been Catholic. Young people are more attracted to these sects, since in the neighborhoods there is one in every street, while Catholic churches are scarce, with only one per neighborhood. In addition, the priest is often unable to arrive even once a monthHe has to attend to 50 more temples," he laments.
With this great challenge Gabriel asks for prayers to all the benefactors and friends of the CARF Foundation to become a good priest: the first thing we priests must be clear about is the message of the Gospel. and how to transmit it, announcing Jesus Christ without being influenced by ideologies that attack society. On the contrary, he must act as a shepherd and look for the lost sheep, who often do not have someone to show them the way".
Moreover, for Gabriel, a 21st century priest must remember that one preaches Christ and not oneself. "With the rise of social media, there is a risk that Christ will be relegated and the preacher will be put at the center..... Therefore, it is essential that the priest prepare himself intellectually to give a reason for our faith, not only with prayers, but also with eloquence in his teaching, both in word and deed".
In all this task, he is grateful to the CARF Foundation for the support he is receiving in order to receive more and better formation. "Well-trained priests are needed because in this world, with so much ideology, we have to give reasons for our faith, to lay the foundations of a new evangelization and thus contribute to the new resurgence of the Church".
Gabriel is very grateful to all of the benefactors of the CARF Foundation and the Association for Humanistic StudiesI pray for you and I am very grateful to you because without your help it would not be possible to complete my theological formation at the University of Navarra. Gabriel's goal is to be able to train very well to return to his diocese and help in the formation of future priestly vocations in his country.
Marta Santínjournalist specializing in religion.
