“What would the world be without priests?”, wondered Fr. Carlos Zancajo, LC, territorial director of Regnum Christi and the Legion of Christ in Spain, and president of the Alter Christus Foundation, during the awards ceremony that this organization holds annually. “The most valuable thing is the testimony of your encounter with Christ, which you carry with your joy, your face, and your distinctive mark,” Fr. Carlos Zancajo told the awardees.

For the third consecutive year, the Alter Christus Foundation awarded, on November 21, some honors which this time went to priests José Luis Huéscar, Daniel Pajuelo, Pedro Trevijano, and Gaétan Kabasha. The recipients were accompanied by a large group of priests, religious, consecrated persons, and laypeople who wanted to join them in the tribute. The event took place at the Francisco de Vitoria University. Fr. Agustín de la Vega, LC, director of the Foundation, could not attend the event as he is currently in Los Angeles, United States, but he appeared via a video message.

A photo gallery of the awards can be viewed here.

The gathering began with a prayer of thanksgiving for the priests, recited by all attendees, followed by introductory remarks from Fr. Jorge Ranninger, LC, Delegate for the apostolate of Regnum Christi in Spain, and Clemente López, Vice-Rector of Research and Innovation at Francisco de Vitoria University.

A life dedicated to Africa and the sick

Rwandan priest Gaétan Kabasha was the first honoree and received the award in the ‘Social Action’ category from Elena Morales, a consecrated member of Regnum Christi who works with him at the Hospital Clínico San Carlos in Madrid. After a presentation video and receiving the award, Kabasha explained that he has seen “that when there are no human resources, no project is worthwhile because, when you start anything, you need capable people to understand and carry out the project.” He founded an organization called AUDE (University for Development Association) with the goal of funding African university students.

He concluded his remarks by thanking the Alter Christus Foundation “for noticing those insignificant or invisible details. You are capable of seeing them, identifying them, and giving an award like this which I perhaps do not deserve and which, by a mystery, has fallen to me.”

“Geeky things” in service of the Gospel

In the ‘New Evangelization’ chapter, Marianist priest Daniel Pajuelo received his award from Paula Puceiro, director of the Faculty of Communication Sciences at Francisco de Vitoria University. Daniel Pajuelo is known for applying technology to religion classes, such as using the video game Minecraft, as well as his evangelizing work on social media: he is a YouTuber with over 18,000 followers on his Twitter account.

His first words, after the presentation video, were of gratitude to his congregation. He explained that he has been a Marianist religious for 20 years, and a priest for only 3: “You see a priest here, but behind him is my congregation, of which I am happy to be part today.” He emphasized that “I cannot speak of my mission without speaking of them, of our commitment to proclaim the Gospel, to build a more just and fraternal society.”

Referring to his own work, he explained that “all these ‘geeky’ things I do come from the heart and from the sowing that many good people have done in my life—my parents, my community brothers, and many people who, without knowing it, through the media, have awakened in me new languages and new ways of transmitting the Gospel. This is the calling I received at 17: to proclaim the Love of God, which I discovered and which heals every wound, and is capable of giving meaning to one’s own existence. I do it trying to learn the languages of men and women today, reaching where I can; and in this, the Lord has provided the means at my disposal.”

A pastor and teacher consecrated to life and family

Pedro Trevijano from Logroño received the award for his dedication, over 53 years, to family pastoral work. During these years, he has been a professor of Moral Theology at the seminary and of morality and Catholic religion at various institutes in Logroño.

After the video that introduced him, the award plaque was handed to him by Asunta Serrano, deputy director of Everest School Monteclaro. “My concern has been affective-sexual education, which remains one of the major current problems.”

Later, with the passage of time—explained Don Pedro—“when I retired, I changed my mindset, and I became chaplain of a residence for Alzheimer’s patients.” He also mentioned that his current great concern is everything related to gender ideology.

José Luis Huéscar: priests were his parishioners

The fourth award given by the Alter Christus Foundation recognizes the work of those who serve priests. In this third edition, the honoree is the Marianist priest José Luis Huéscar, who could not collect it because he was accompanying in Rome Don Carlos Osoro, Archbishop of Madrid, who was just consecrated as a Cardinal by Pope Francis this Saturday.

After viewing the brief report about Fr. José Luis, the award was received on his behalf by Alfredo Jiménez, who has been his secretary for 15 years when Huéscar was responsible for Vicarage VII of Madrid. Alfredo shared his personal and direct testimony of knowing the honoree: “I attest to all the effort he has always put into caring for priests. They have been his parishioners.” After recalling his work at the Reina del Cielo parish, which he helped build, the secretary noted that “it seems to me a very appropriate act, very just, to award him this prize and, at the same time, knowing his intention, let us pray, first, for the holiness of priests, and second, for priestly vocations, because the priesthood is the continuation of Christ’s redemptive work, and this has no substitute and is fundamental in the Church.”