César Izquierdo, Associate Dean of the School
Professor of Theology
He published several dozen works of great importance in the field of dogmatic theology.
The theologian Lucas Francisco Mateo-Seco belonged to a generation of men of the Church who, from different responsibilities, made possible the incorporation of the Church in Spain to the renewal movement that the Second Vatican Council brought about.
As a priest in Seville, he met and dealt with Cardinal Bueno Monreal, who trusted him and, despite his youth, appointed him superior of seminar in Seville. Later, the same cardinal sent him to Rome to obtain the doctorate in Theology.
In Salamanca, in whose Pontifical University he had studied the licentiate degree, Paco-Seco - as he was known by his friends - was a companion of programs of study of the current Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela. He also treated Jesús Domínguez, who would later become bishop of Coria-Cáceres, Cardinal Carles when he was a young priest, and other bishops.
The time in Rome was a profound experience of ecclesiality for two reasons. The first was because he lived in the center of the Church and at the time when the Second Vatican Council was being held; the second was because it allowed Luke Francis to have close and frequent contact with St. Josemaría Escrivá.Second, because it allowed Lucas Francisco to have close and frequent contact with St. Josemaría Escrivá. For him, who had belonged to the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross since the early years of his priesthood, attention with the founder of Opus Dei was an experience that he had never forgotten. Opus Dei was an unforgettable experience.
He contributed with his work professor to the serenity of the passage of many people from a "traditional" society and ecclesial experience to the new status that, in various aspects, meant the Council and the post-conciliar period.the Council and the post-conciliar period. With his theological authority and his deep priestly sense, he guided and accompanied generations of students of the School of Theology of the University of Navarra. University of Navarra in his intellectual training , offering them at the same time a close and coherent testimony of Christian and priestly life, fully dedicated to service.
Mateo-Seco published several dozen works of great depth in the field of dogmatic theology, and also excelled in the field of the specialization especially in that of the Fathers, and more specifically, of the great theologian and philosopher Gregory of Nyssa.
If, as has been written, the verification of the truth of theology takes place in the life of theologians when it is coherent with what they teach, the life of Luke Francis was a test that whoever entrusts himself to God can speak of Him without danger: with words and with the witness of "the works that accompany him".
Lucas Francisco Mateo-Seco was born on January 6, 1936 in La Campana (Seville) and died on February 15, 2014 in Pamplona. A priest of the diocese of Seville, he was one of the first professors of the School of Theology at the University of Navarra.