{"id":224979,"date":"2025-10-27T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/?p=224979"},"modified":"2025-10-24T16:18:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:18:51","slug":"ateismo-practico-inesperada-vocacion-sacerdote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/ateismo-practico-inesperada-vocacion-sacerdote\/","title":{"rendered":"Angel David, from atheism to a life of dedication"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Practical atheism is a way of life that acts as if God does not exist, without the need for philosophical debate or formal denial. It manifests itself in the absence of religious motivation, indifference to transcendent or divine issues, and the exclusion of religion from daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At 20 years of age, Angel David, a Mexican seminarian, is aware of the gift he has received to study and be formed as a priest in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unav.edu\/web\/facultad-de-teologia\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.unav.edu\/web\/facultad-de-teologia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the University of Navarra<\/a>, in Pamplona. Their story is one of conversion and hope, of how God can transform a family far from the faith into a home of communion with Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00abSeeing my parents take up the faith again was the seed of the vocation that God put in me, and he continues to take care of it every day,\u00bb emphasizes Angel David.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u2728 CONFESSION WAS WHAT INSPIRED MY VOCATION TO BE A PRIEST \u271d\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NAiyxro9lrg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"del-ateismo-practico-a-la-fe\">From practical atheism to faith<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Angel David grew up in a large family: five siblings and parents who, as he himself says, <strong>were believers, but lived a practical atheism. <\/strong>\u00abWe didn't contemplate God in everyday life, let alone going to Mass,\u00bb he says.<strong>.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everything changed when they decided to come back to the faith, receive the sacraments and her parents got married in the Church. \u00abNow my parents are committed to evangelization,\u00bb he says with gratitude. That family transformation was also the fertile ground where his vocation germinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"el-momento-que-sintio-la-vocacion-al-sacerdocio\">The moment he felt the vocation <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Her first serious contact with the faith was preparing for her First Communion. What began as a tradition soon became an inner calling. <strong>\u00abGod had other plans for me.\u00bb,<\/strong> he says with a smile. Being an altar boy allowed him to experience the liturgy up close, and in the silence of a Mass he understood that his life did not belong to him alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00abThe special moment was during a <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/santa-misa\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/santa-misa\/\">Holy Mass<\/a> -he recalls. <strong>The priest had about fifty people to confess, and I thought it was impossible for him to reach all of them.<\/strong>. I asked myself if someday I could be the one to offer God's forgiveness... and in that instant, He planted the seed of my vocation,\u00bb he expresses serenely.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"577\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-08-at-23.16.27-577x1024.webp\" alt=\"\u00c1ngel David, ate\u00edsmo dios vocaci\u00f3n sacerdote\" class=\"wp-image-224988\" style=\"width:465px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-08-at-23.16.27-577x1024.webp 577w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-08-at-23.16.27-169x300.webp 169w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-08-at-23.16.27-84x150.webp 84w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-08-at-23.16.27-768x1364.webp 768w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-08-at-23.16.27-865x1536.webp 865w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-08-at-23.16.27-7x12.webp 7w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-08-at-23.16.27.webp 901w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 577px) 100vw, 577px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tabasco-una-tierra-de-fe-que-se-enfrenta-al-secularismo\">Tabasco, a land of faith facing secularism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>His home diocese, Tabasco, located in southeastern Mexico, is a warm land not only because of its climate, but also because of the faith of its people. With about one and a half million inhabitants, 64 % declare themselves Catholic. <strong>It has 250 priests and 120 parishes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, like many other regions, it faces growing challenges. \u00abThe biggest challenge is secularism and materialism among young people,\u00bb explains Angel David. That materialism leads to a lack of commitment in the Church. In addition, the rise of diverse religions and sects has caused Catholicism to be a bit on the decline.\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"devocion-a-la-virgen-de-guadalupe\">Devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite growing secularization, Tabasco is a living diocese, marked by the joy and hospitality of its people. Its rural communities preserve deeply Christian traditions, even though modernity and globalization have brought with them religious indifference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even so, the <strong>popular devotion, especially to the Virgin of Guadalupe,<\/strong> continues to be a focus of hope. The Guadalupana in Mexico is seen as a loving mother who always takes care of us and intercedes before God for us,\u00ab says the young seminarian. On December 12, the feast of our patroness, even people of other religions or atheists come to pray a rosary before her. It seems like a joke, but it's true,\u00bb he says with emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"un-hecho-que-le-sorprendio-de-espana\">A fact that surprised him from Spain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When he arrived in Spain he thought that this was also a country with great Marian devotion. He was not wrong, although, on the other hand, he was shocked by some things he did not expect. \u00abI was very surprised to see, for example, that one day, in a Holy Mass, there were only three people,\u00bb he confesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, he was struck by the fact that the few Spanish youth and adolescents who participate in Sunday Mass are very committed to their faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"como-evangelizar-en-la-sociedad-actual\">Evangelizing in today's society<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked how to evangelize today, his answer is clear: \u00abit is not a matter of showing a just or punishing God, but the true Merciful Father, full of love, who always forgives us and seeks us out\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His words resonate with the pastoral closeness he dreams of for the <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/que-es-un-sacerdote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">priests<\/a> of the 21st century: \u00ab<strong>The priest of this time must be healthy, wise and holy.<\/strong>. Knowing how to live in the world, but without being of it. And he must also learn to use social networks as a bridge of evangelization, although with care so as not to isolate himself or fall into disinformation\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00c1ngel David \u00c1lvarez Ram\u00edrez, a young man from Tabasco who is in his third year of his bachelor's degree in Theology and who, from the heart of Navarra, is preparing to return one day to his homeland as a priest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Marta Sant\u00edn<\/strong>journalist specializing in religion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h4>Table of Contents<\/h4><nav><div><div class=\"\"><a href=\"#del-ateismo-practico-a-la-fe\">From practical atheism to faith<\/a><\/div><div class=\"\"><a href=\"#el-momento-que-sintio-la-vocacion-al-sacerdocio\">The moment he felt the vocation<\/a><div><div class=\"\"><a href=\"#tabasco-una-tierra-de-fe-que-se-enfrenta-al-secularismo\">Tabasco, a land of faith facing secularism<\/a><\/div><div class=\"\"><a href=\"#devocion-a-la-virgen-de-guadalupe\">Devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe<\/a><\/div><div class=\"\"><a href=\"#un-hecho-que-le-sorprendio-de-espana\">A fact that surprised him from Spain<\/a><\/div><div class=\"\"><a href=\"#como-evangelizar-en-la-sociedad-actual\">Evangelizing in today's society<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/nav><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00c1ngel David \u00c1lvarez Ram\u00edrez, a seminarian from Mexico, is aware of the gift he has received to study and be formed as a priest. From the Diocese of Tabasco, he has come to the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra to prepare for his ordination. He resides at the Bidasoa International Seminary.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":224980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[308,180,160],"class_list":["post-224979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historias","tag-mexico","tag-seminaristas","tag-testimonios"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224979"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225759,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224979\/revisions\/225759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}