DOMUS GALILAEAE – On Saturday, June 6, 2026, in the Church of the Twelve Apostles at Domus Galilaeae, four deacons of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Galilee were ordained priests for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem through the laying on of hands and the consecratory prayer of His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The new priests are David Sotgiu, from Italy; Adolfo René De León Salguero, from Guatemala; Francisco Hurtado Cárdenas, from Colombia; and José Pablo Morera Mesén, from Costa Rica. The celebration gathered numerous priests, seminarians, relatives, friends, and Neocatechumenal communities from the Holy Land and from the countries of origin of the ordinands.
The ordination took place on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, a coincidence that the Patriarch described as providential. In his homily, he recalled that “there is no Eucharist without the priest, nor priest without the Eucharist,” emphasizing that the priest not only celebrates the Eucharist, but is called to live according to its form: as bread broken and life given for the Church.
“Love cannot close in on itself; it must communicate itself, it must become a gift,” the Patriarch said, explaining that the Eucharist is the way in which the love of God is given to the world. For this reason, he invited the new priests to allow the life of God to enter into them and, through their ministry, become a gift for the communities to which they will be sent.
Cardinal Pizzaballa also recalled that the priesthood is not a personal possession, but a gift received, to be guarded throughout one’s whole life: in words, gestures, ways of thinking, and relationships with others. “If you keep it for yourselves, it will suffocate; it must always become a gift,” he said, exhorting the new priests to live their ministry without expecting reward, especially in the most difficult places and situations.
Drawing from the first reading, the Patriarch insisted on the importance of memory: “Remember what the Lord has done for you.” He invited the ordinands not to forget the journey they have made, the people who have sustained them, and the faithfulness of God who has led them to this day.
Addressing them directly, he also reminded them that the priest is called to be a shepherd not in order to bind people to himself, but to lead them to an encounter with Christ. The life of the priest, he said, must give shape to the flock through witness, helping communities experience faith as a living reality within the Church.
At the end of the homily, the Patriarch highlighted the beauty and the demands of serving the Church of Jerusalem: a small, complex Church, wounded by many situations, yet precisely for this reason called to profound authenticity. “Here it is necessary to go all the way, to live the life of God to the very end, where the Word became incarnate and became tangible and real,” he said.
The celebration concluded in an atmosphere of deep joy and gratitude for the gift of these new priests, called to serve the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the mission of the Church in the Holy Land and wherever the Lord, through his shepherds, may send them.
May the Lord accompany David, Adolfo, Francisco, and José Pablo in their priestly ministry, and make them humble and faithful witnesses of Christ’s love among his people.
