On one occasion, having lunch with the papyrologist Ramon Roca Puig at the monastery of Montserrat, I asked him to what extent he was concerned about the lack of priestly vocations in the Catholic Church. Dr. Roca Puig's answer was blunt: priestly vocations will flourish again for the simple reason that history is cyclical and God has his instruments to take care of his Church. One of them, I have no doubt, was the theologian Lucas Francisco Mateo-Seco, professor for more than 40 years at the School of Theology of the University of Navarra, who died last Saturday at the University Clinic of Pamplona.

I remember him perfectly in the early eighties in his daily walk along the campus from the School of Theology to the Central Building, in the midst of the motley university community. Or in the unforgettable get-togethers organized by literature professor José Miguel Cejas in the Belagua. high school Mayor Belagua. Don Lucas or Don Francisco, always with his clear look and his permanent smile, transmitted confidence, serenity and optimism to the young students who came from all over Spain.

In 1992, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of School of Theology, Dr. Mateo-Seco, who in 1967 had arrived in Pamplona at the age of 31 to start up School at the express wish of St. Josemaría Escrivá, asked himself in public: "What were the beginnings like? Fun, hard work, hopeful. We were sure that God would not let us out of his hand. And the illusion of serving the Church not only with good will, but also with a job well done. That was what really mattered.

Don Lucas never lost his good humor in the face of difficulties. "He, with his often feigned Andalusian exaggeration, taught how to take away the iron to the dramatic or difficult to continue looking forward with hope. It is not strange that he became so loved by all those who treated him because of his academic work or his intense pastoral work", comments Juan Chapa, Dean of the School of Theology of the University of Navarra. 

Lucas had this ability to listen to and encourage everyone. But his deep priestly sense made him, as Mossèn Roca Puig had explained to me in Montserrat, this most faithful instrument of God to guide and accompany generations of priests in their vocation and intellectual training in the campus of Pamplona and in the seminar of Seville. Because the passion of his life was the priesthood and the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross of Opus Dei.

Since his ordination in Seville on March 28, 1959, Mateo-Seco dedicated all his vitality, energy, capacity of work and gifts of government to forge good Christians and good priests. During his time as formator of seminar in Seville, he dealt with Cardinal Bueno Monreal. And at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, where he graduated in Theology, he was a companion of Cardinals Antonio María Rouco Varela and Ricard María Carles. He then obtained his doctorate in Rome at the University of St. Thomas (Angelicum). The experience could not have been more rewarding. From the center of the Church he lived the work of the Second Vatican Council and treated St. Josemaría.

Professor Mateo-Seco, born on January 6, 1936 in La Campana (Seville), will be remembered for his eagerness to bring people closer to God, to do things well and for his enthusiasm for dreaming of great things. Author of more than a hundred books and scientific treatises, he achieved great international prestige especially as a speculative theologian in the area of Trinitarian theology, Christology and Mariology.