{"id":227166,"date":"2025-12-17T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/?p=227166"},"modified":"2025-12-16T12:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T11:07:09","slug":"vocacion-sacerdotal-jose-gabriel-brasil-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/vocacion-sacerdotal-jose-gabriel-brasil-rio\/","title":{"rendered":"From Rio de Janeiro: Jos\u00e9 Gabriel's priestly vocation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a neighborhood on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where houses age before they are finished and families struggle to get by as best they can, he was born. <strong>Jos\u00e9 Gabriel Silva Kafa<\/strong>, a student who dreams of consolidating his <strong>priestly vocation<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jos\u00e9 Gabriel is 23 years old. He is a seminarian studying his third year of theology at the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra. He lives and receives comprehensive training at the <a href=\"https:\/\/seminariobidasoa.org\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/seminariobidasoa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bidasoa international seminar<\/a>in Pamplona.<\/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=\"Priestly vocation: Jos\u00e9 Gabriel&#039;s journey from Rio de Janeiro to Spain\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lBXnNzrah_0?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=\"una-fe-domestica-sin-discursos\">A domestic faith without speeches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In his home, faith was not explained: it was lived. His father, a salesman, and his mother, a business administration graduate who devoted herself to the home, passed on their religion and faith with naturalness, without pretension or fanfare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They never considered themselves a model family to be emulated; they simply took it for granted that belief in God and faith were part of everyday life. It was this stable environment that allowed Jos\u00e9 Gabriel to take God seriously without the need for dramatic breaks or episodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"la-adolescencia-en-la-parroquia\"><strong>Adolescence in the parish<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the age of 14, he began serving as an altar boy. The sacristy, the altar, and his daily interaction with his parish priest gradually became the environment and place where he understood that the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/sacerdocio\/vocacion-sacerdotal\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"169955\">priestly vocation<\/a><\/strong> it wasn't an abstract idea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His adolescence was spent between the parish, soccer, and diocesan gatherings: activities that he now remembers as the place where he discovered that faith could be a concrete way of being in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Confirmation course marked a turning point. There he met young people who were seeking God without reservations. That environment forced him to ask himself what he wanted to do with his own life. At eighteen, after beginning his studies in philosophy, he entered the seminary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"766\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-02-766x1024.webp\" alt=\"Jos\u00e9 Gabriel Silva Kafa, seminarista de Brasil de la di\u00f3cesis de R\u00edo de Janeiro, contin\u00faa creciendo en su fe y su vocaci\u00f3n sacerdotal.\" class=\"wp-image-227169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-02-766x1024.webp 766w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-02-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-02-112x150.webp 112w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-02-768x1026.webp 768w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-02-9x12.webp 9w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-02.webp 958w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 766px) 100vw, 766px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jos\u00e9 Gabriel next to an image of the Virgin Mary in Rio de Janeiro, which accompanied the beginning of his priestly vocation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"la-diocesis-de-rio-un-terreno-complejo\"><strong>The Diocese of Rio, a complex terrain<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest in the country, has some 750 priests spread across 298 parishes. Of the more than six million inhabitants, 43.6% declare themselves to be Catholic, but the number of people without religion and who coexist with diverse traditions is increasing: Protestants, Umbanda spiritualists, Candombl\u00e9 syncretists...<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jos\u00e9 Gabriel describes this situation without drama, but with great clarity. He says that evangelizing in his country means talking about God to a population that has learned to distrust, even in matters of the heart. \u00abMany do not believe in love because they have seen how it breaks,\u00bb he explains. That is why he admires the work of his archbishop, who is present in very different neighborhoods and communities. That pastoral style\u2014close, constant, without artifice\u2014is the model he looks to in order to learn and improve as a future servant of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"evangelizar-sin-tecnicas-ni-esloganes\">Evangelizing without techniques or slogans<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When he talks about mission, he avoids clich\u00e9s. For him, evangelizing consists of \u00abliving in a way that makes what you preach credible.\u00bb He is not referring to moral feats, but to consistency: a devoted life that is visible in everyday gestures. The simplicity of evangelizing by example without seeking to apply marketing techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He believes that the trivialization of love and the fragility of the family have left deep wounds in many young people. That is why he insists that the Christian message can only be understood if it shows a love that is stable and capable of rebuilding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"677\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-03.webp\" alt=\"Jos\u00e9 Gabriel estudiando en una sala del seminario, dando testimonio de su vocaci\u00f3n sacerdotal.\" class=\"wp-image-227170\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.4771665659174589;width:795px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-03.webp 1000w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-03-300x203.webp 300w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-03-150x102.webp 150w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-03-768x520.webp 768w, https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jose-gabriel-03-18x12.webp 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jos\u00e9 Gabriel during the interview he gave to the CARF Foundation in a classroom in Bidasoa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"espana-solemnidad-y-distancia\"><strong>Spain: solemnity and distance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>His arrival in Spain led him to discover another way of living his faith. He appreciates the beauty of the liturgy and the intellectual seriousness of his new surroundings, but he perceives less community involvement than in Brazil. He does not express this as a criticism, but rather as a contrast: \u00abHere, everything is well cared for and well celebrated, but sometimes there is a lack of closeness that motivates people to participate and serve.\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-sacerdote-que-imagina-para-este-siglo\">When asked about the kind of priest the Church needs today, he responds without embellishment: \u00abSomeone who truly loves his vocation, who studies seriously, and who prays without compromise. In a secularized context, people quickly discern whether a priest believes what he says or is merely fulfilling a role,\u00bb affirms Jos\u00e9 Gabriel Silva Kafa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A story without fireworks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jos\u00e9 Gabriel's journey is not based on striking miracles or extraordinary experiences. He was born into a family that was consistent in its Catholic faith, lived close to a lively parish, and underwent a slow process in which <strong>learned to listen to God<\/strong> amidst the daily noise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, he continues on that path far from his country, in a seminary that\u2014as he acknowledges\u2014is also shaping him. His story is simple, but it makes it clear that a vocation can grow quietly and become solid over time.<\/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\"><p><strong>Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p><nav><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#una-fe-domestica-sin-discursos\">A domestic faith without speeches<\/a><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#evangelizar-sin-tecnicas-ni-esloganes\">Evangelizing without techniques or slogans<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#espana-solemnidad-y-distancia\">Spain: solemnity and distance<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jos\u00e9 Gabriel Silva Kafa, a seminarian from Brazil in the Diocese of Rio de Janeiro, continues to grow in his faith and priestly vocation, which was born thanks to the constant example of his family. Today, he is consolidating it in Spain while studying in Navarra.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":227168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[330,170,331,332,328,329,212],"class_list":["post-227166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historias","tag-formacion-sacerdotal","tag-fundacion-carf","tag-jovenes-y-fe","tag-seminario-de-rio-de-janeiro","tag-seminario-internacional-bidasoa","tag-testimonio-de-seminarista","tag-vocacion-sacerdotal"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227166","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=227166"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227250,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227166\/revisions\/227250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fundacioncarf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}