Nine young men begin the path to priesthood at Getafe seminary

The Getafe Diocesan Seminary, in the diocese south of Madrid, opened its new academic year on September 28, 2026, with nine young men entering the propaedeutic stage. The ceremony took place at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Cerro de los Ángeles, before seminarians, families and friends. The bishop of Getafe, Ginés García Beltrán, celebrated the Mass and said the new students represent hope for the diocese.

In his homily, García Beltrán described the day as an opening to the future and an invitation to let God work in them. "It is a day that opens us to the future, that opens us to hope, that opens us to God's action upon us," he said. He also said that every vocation is first of all a personal call. "We are gathered here by the Lord, who is the one who calls, the only one who calls," he added, welcoming those beginning the path toward priestly ministry.

The propaedeutic stage, the bishop said, is the first part of a process of discernment in which the young men will deepen their relationship with Christ, growing gradually in intimacy with the Lord. "We are his, we are for him, and so we have to live in him," he said, urging the seminarians to understand their vocation from the call they have received and not only from what they do.

The bishop spoke of the sacrifices and difficulties of the vocational path, and said he trusted in God's will above any obstacle. "When the Lord calls, when the Lord wills, when the Lord chooses, when the Lord appoints, there is nothing in life that can be more important than following the Lord's call," he said. He asked the new seminarians to take up this stage with humility and willingness, open to God transforming their hearts in line with the biblical promise of receiving "a new heart."

García Beltrán also thanked the families present for their support. He greeted parents and grandparents in particular and asked them to support their children and grandchildren with prayer. "I am convinced that you grandparents are the ones who will pray most for your grandchildren, so that the Lord continues to give them light on this path," he said.

The bishop said the diocese urgently needs new priests to meet its pastoral needs. "When so many people always come to say: 'Bishop, we need another priest,'" he said, before stating his own wish: "Lord, give us priests, give us many if possible, but let them be holy." He said that during this academic year the seminary community will keep in mind the seminarian martyrs who are soon to be beatified and St. John of Ávila, patron of the Spanish secular clergy, whose fifth centenary of priestly ordination is being marked this year.

To close the celebration, the bishop entrusted the new academic year to Our Lady of the Angels, patroness of the diocese, asking her protection over the seminary and over those preparing for the priesthood. "She is the one who forms best," he said, before asking Holy Mary of the Angels to accompany "the journey of our seminary" and the future priests.