ACI Prensa Staff, 09 August, 2025 / 5:00 pm (ACI Africa).
Father Miguel Tovar is 24 years old and one of the youngest priests in Spain. After his ordination on July 5 in the Diocese of Cartagena, he and his parents visited Rome and met Pope Leo XIV, who encouraged him to never lose “the joy of the priesthood.”
“What a great gift from the Lord, one month after my priestly ordination, to be able to greet the pope. The Holy Father encouraged me to be faithful and not to lose the joy of the priesthood in prayer,” Tovar wrote on Aug. 7 on X.
Qué regalazo del Señor a un mes de mi ordenación sacerdotal poder saludar al Papa. El Santo Padre me animó a ser fiel y a no perder la alegría del sacerdocio en la oración. Al saber que venían mis padres, les dio la enhorabuena por entregar un hijo con 24 años a la Iglesia ????… pic.twitter.com/bFI52uu4tk
— Miguel Tovar Fernández (@TovarPater) August 7, 2025
Tovar said that after telling the pope he had been ordained very recently, Pope Leo XIV told him: “Be faithful. Many priests lose their joy. Never lose the joy of the priesthood, which you will always find through prayer.”
Upon learning that Tovar’s parents had accompanied him to Rome, Leo XIV replied: “Are they [over] there? Tell them to come!”
