"The support we receive from benefactors is part of God's surprises and the joys we experience are also His".

Rolvin Capistranois from Viga Catanduanes, Philippines. He is 41 years old and is currently a sophomore at licentiate degree at Canon Law. He is not new to Pamplona, as this is the second time he has come to study at the University of Navarra. From 2000 to 2004 he studied high school program in Theology while he was studying at seminar Bidasoa International.

Here he arrived, sent by the bishop of his diocese to study with a scholarship of the CARF Foundation. He did not come alone. He had the good fortune to coincide with a companion from the seminar minor where he had studied and whom he had known since he was a child, when they were both altar boys in the same parish. He went there with his grandparents when he was little. From them he learned about the faith. "I was the oldest of four siblings and every weekend I went to spend with them," he recounts.

He says that his vocation was not very well received by his father, although with the help of his mother's financial aid , he was able to show him which was his path. "The Lord captivated me with the attractiveness of the life of a priest. I was twelve years old when I entered the seminar. There I found happiness: I was where I was supposed to be and doing what I was supposed to do. I had occasions to decline, but I didn't."

Although he recognizes that going back to school has been difficult, "loving what you do" has helped him a lot to pick up the pace. He assures that coming back to this land has been like coming back to his second home: "The city has changed a lot, but deep down it's still my old Pamplona".

In addition to his academic training at the University, Rolvin practices sports in his free time (tennis and jogging), "especially when I feel overwhelmed by the programs of study", he emphasizes. Currently he also collaborates with the Archbishopric of Pamplona by celebrating Mass in Caparroso, because the parish priest is ill. And on other occasions he has helped in some parishes in Artajona, Ulzama and in the Baztan Valley. "We Filipinos have inherited many things from the popular religiosity of the Spaniards. Navarra is a missionary land. I am learning a lot and now I understand many things as I go into the villages: their customs, the patronal feasts, the processions...", he explains.

Asked about his pastoral work, he says he is very happy: "For me it is not something strange. We priests are not ordained for ourselves, but to help people and be with them. There are villages that have only 5 or 6 people at mass and we may think that we are not doing anything. However, we must sow with joy, just as we were the fruit of the seed sown by our ancestors. That is how we have been growing".

He is very grateful for the financial aid received from the benefactors to be able to carry out his programs of study, without which it would not have been possible: "There are many people who support us financial aid and although they do not see it, they are doing many good things for the Church. The support we receive from them is part of God's surprises and the joys we experience are also theirs".