"If anything has marked my life at the University, it has been the spiritual and human accompaniment I have received."

Ángel Loredo was born in Monterrey, Mexico, 31 years ago. He is the youngest of three brothers from a Catholic family. He arrived in Spain at the end of August 2019 to study the licentiate degree in Moral Theology. He has been one of the international students of the University who was caught in the pandemic by COVID- 19 shortly after starting his programs of study. On May 25 he will celebrate his graduation. This is a very special event for him since he has also been the class delegate this year.

Asked about his vocation, he says that, although he had always been a "young man of the parish" and that his family was very religious, it was something very sudden. He was in his first year at degree program in Engineering and after participating in a vocational retreat to which his parish priest had invited him, he made the decision. "I had done apostolate visiting the sick and serving people in need. I thought that if giving myself to others through service was what I liked best, why not become a priest and do it all the time. Little by little, along the path of my vocation, the signs of God began to manifest themselves," he explains.

He recalls the first days in Spain with the uncertainty of the novelty, the cultural and gastronomic differences and even the variations in the language. He had only been ordained a priest for two years. However, he has always been guided by his maxim: "When Christ invites you to be happy, you should not be afraid".

He assures that if anything has marked his life at the University it has been "the spiritual and human accompaniment" he has received. "Also the priestly fraternity among fellow priests that makes you feel like family," he says. And he recalls that this stay has meant an academic challenge and has allowed him to know himself better as a priest, being far from his homeland. "I have also experienced the richness of the Catholic Church by living with 17 other priests from different continents such as Europe, America, Africa and Asia; and to live closely the faith of the Spanish people and their devotion to the Virgin Mary," he recalls.

In a few days he will return to his homeland and is aware that his training in Pamplona would not have been possible without the financial aid of God and the benefactors who have made it possible: both financially and spiritually. "I also want to thank the professors for the training they have given me and the bishop of my diocese for his confidence in me," he concludes.