"The priestly ministry consists in joyfully carrying out a mission."

Father Fermín Rigoberto Nah Chí was ordained a priest in 2011 in the Archdiocese of Yucatán (Mexico) where he was born 34 years ago.

Although he was surprised when he was offered the possibility of completing his studies at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross "because I was just learning to be a priest, to be a pastor".

 

At present he confesses to being a "happy priest and philosophy student in the eternal city".

The first months of my priestly ministry

I served as parochial vicar in the community of "San Francisco de Asis", in Conkal (Yucatan) a few minutes from the Yucatan capital of Merida. One of the things that caught my attention was to see so many young people on the sports fields, but only a few at the Sunday masses: There was no youth ministry in the parish, nor was there a parish structure to take care of the evangelization of these young people.

There I clearly understood what God was asking of me at that moment.

To take care of these boys and girls, to bring them closer to Christ, to create a parish structure, a space for young people where they would feel that they have their own place in the Church and that they are taken into account.

With God's help, I took the first steps in the mission, getting to know and identifying those young people who stood out from the rest because of their leadership skills, inviting them and forming with them the driving force of the youth ministry.

Scholarship for specialization in Rome

Soon the rector of the diocesan seminary gave me the news that there was the possibility that I could do my specialization studies in Rome. I confess that it was a proposal that puzzled me a lot, because I was just getting to know and getting involved in the reality of my new parish, I was just learning to be a priest, to be a pastor. However, I did not think much about it and my answer was affirmative.

At the end of my term as vicar, I arrived in Rome with great enthusiasm to study at the university.

It has been a year and a half since I started my new experience as a priest and student.

During this time I have understood more deeply that the priestly ministry does not consist only in the exercise of parish ministry, but rather in carrying out with joy the mission given to us by the bishop.. Today I am a happy priest and student who, like many others, struggles to live up to the academic demands of college."