Raymund Fajardo is a 41-year-old Filipino priest. He arrived in Pamplona in September 2018 and is currently studying the second year of the licentiate degree in Dogmatic Theology at the University of Navarra.

He combines his programs of study with his pastoral work. He usually confesses at chapel de la Clínica Universidad de Navarra. financial aid A task he says he enjoys very much because in his diocese (Virac, Philippines) he was entrusted with the position of exorcist. "To think that the devil does not exist is already a triumph for him. Confession repairs the damage of sin, so the challenge is to live the cross of Christ: to pray, to be in the grace of God and trust in his mercy.

After classes, study and his pastoral commitment, he "escapes" to the Oberena Sports Club. There he trains Ping-Pong. He is part of a federated team, and last year he even participated in the Northern League. "This year I can't do it because in May I present my minor thesis, but I really like training and the atmosphere," he says. This break in his work allows him to be close to the people and show that a priest is a normal person.

His experience in Pamplona is not strange to him, quite the contrary. He says that for him this city is his "second home". Between 2000 and 2004, he studied there for the high school diploma Philosophy and Theology, when he was a seminarian at high school Bidasoa International: "However, the context was very different. However, the context was very different. high school Mayor The new building was not yet built and I remember queuing up at the phone booth to call my family. The ADI platform did not yet exist, there were no tablets and notes were taken with pen and paper. We were absolutely disconnected.

He is especially grateful to the professors for their dedication and demand in the subjects, as well as to the benefactors who make his training possible: "They encourage me to do well what I have to do, and help me a lot not only with material resources, but also with their prayers".

Raymund is the oldest of five siblings in a Catholic family. He entered the seminar Minor of his diocese in 1992, at the age of 14, and in 1996, at the age of 18, he entered the seminar Major. He remembers that he was a very disorderly boy and that he was always fighting with others. His friends had the idea that only those who were very good got into seminar and they did not trust him to become a priest. He was ordained on June 29, 2006, after his time at training in Pamplona.

During the eleven years that separate the two stays in the capital of Navarra, he has worked in the seminar of his diocese, in parishes and in the chancery in the Philippines. God willing, he will present his minor thesis in May and in September he will begin the doctorate. Asked about his future plans, he said he wants to live his priestly life in a joyful and dedicated way, faithful to God and to the needs of his bishop: "I like to make plans, but in the end God's plan always triumphs".