Alex Okiror 's grandparents were Catholic and so are his parents. They live in the diocese of Soroti, eastern Uganda. They had 10 children. Alex is the second. Their home is very close to the church, so the priests who attend to it have always come and gone as a matter of course. When Alex was 7 years old, he told his parents that he wanted to become a priest, but they refused, arguing that he needed to grow up more.

When he turned 14, he tried again. And his parents agreed: "They taught us that in life we have to do what we really want to do, as long as it's good, of course," Alex explains. He started his programs of study in 2000, and after 6 years he applied to the seminar major. There he studied three years at Philosophy and spent another year gaining pastoral experience.

In Uganda there are no financial possibilities for a seminarian to study abroad: the travel ticket, the enrollment, the living expenses are too high for a parish to cover. Emmanuel Obbo A.J., Bishop of Soroti, told him that he had obtained a scholarship through a Foundation. Alex Okiror was the first student to leave for Europe. "At the University of Navarra people work a lot and study a lot," the bishop told him, "you have to go there and then come back and help us to help the Church here," Alex recalls.

He arrived in Pamplona on July 27, 2010. "I didn't know a word of Spanish. The environment in which I lived, both at the University and at that time in the high school Mayor BidasoaThe atmosphere in which I lived, both at the University and at that time in Bidasoa, is pure Christianity: that of welcoming people without even knowing who they are. He is a child of God, and that is enough. Being able to study at the University of Navarra is an extraordinary financial aid for me. The professors who give class here are not only dedicated to teaching, but they also train us so that we can bring this knowledge to life," he says.

And he adds: "I want to thank the benefactors for the good they do us, because a priest needs to know, and the great knowledge is to know Jesus Christ. Only by knowing Jesus Christ can he work for the salvation of all men. The great economic financial aid for our programs of study that the benefactors give us, although we receive it, is not only for our good, but for the good of all the Christian people that is more and more in need of holy and wise priests. We collect these "gifts", but our training is to serve others", he concludes.

Alex Okiror was ordained a deacon on March 22 at the Church of San Nicolás in Pamplona, along with 13 other classmates from the School of Theology at the University of Navarra. He returned to Uganda, where Bishop Emmanuel Obbo A.J. ordained him a priest on August 16 at Soroti Cathedral. Four days later he celebrated his first Solemn Mass in Kidetok.

At the suggestion of his bishop, he has returned to the University of Navarra: this academic year 2014-15 he has started the licentiate degree in Canon Law.