Diocese welcomes new seminarian

Friday, Apr. 10, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Luis Uriel De Dios Hernández arrived in Salt Lake City a little more than a month ago.

Originally from Martinez de la Torre in Veracruz, Mexico, De Dios Hernandez entered the seminary for the first time when he was 14 years old.

“I was really young. I had always been very close to my priest – not to a certain priest, to the Christ priesthood – so when I was invited to a vocational retreat at the seminary I didn’t even doubt,” said De Dios Hernández.

Then, when the opportunity came up, he enrolled in the seminary for his first year of high school, but little by little there were fewer and fewer people in the classes at the seminary until he was the only one in his classroom.

“So one of the priests asked me what I wanted to do … continue by myself to the next level, or go home and wait there until the next class,” said De Dios Hernández.

He went home and finished high school outside the seminary. Until that moment, De Dios Hernández thinks he had no clear idea about what his vocation was.  

“We all walk side by side with Christ, but how do you realize that you have a vocation? That it is real? That is the right path? ... It really implies a lot of discernment and prayer,” said De Dios Hernández.

He started paying attention to how the people approached the priests, how they were grateful to them, and how they trust in them, he said. “Everything was an incentive to confirm my vocation.”

The year after graduating from high school, he entered the Seminary of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Teziutlan, Puebla for the Diocese of Papantla Veracruz.

After three years of studying philosophy,  he did a summary of his studies in the seminary in Mexico City. After presenting the summary, he passed to the next level, which is theology.

He received a formal invitation to join the Diocese of Salt Lake City after sending several documents and an application to the vocations office; he knows both Father Eleazar Silva, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, and Jorge Martinez, one of the diocese’s seminarians.  

Also, De Dios Hernandez served as a driver for Bishop Lorenzo Cardenas, who came to Utah in 2013 to give some classes to the permanent deacons, and upon his return to Mexico he told De Dios Hernández about the need for priests in Salt Lake City.

When the Office of Vocations asked why he wanted to become a priest in Utah, De Dios Hernández responded that he considers that the Church is universal, and  he has always felt very clearly that priesthood is an exercise of service, he said.  

On March 5, after sending recommendation letters and receiving the formal invitation, De Dios Hernández arrived in Utah filled with a lot of emotions and excitement.

“I thought that I was going to find a church in the middle of another church [the Mormons] that was very lethargic, very limited,” but to his surprise and joy he found a very vibrant community, he said. “I love it. Everything is very organized. … I am liking this very much.”

He is now studying English at the University of Utah.

“I am now doing my best to learn as fast as possible English, so I can continue the road to priesthood,” said De Dios Hernández, who likes soccer, the outdoors and all kinds of music.

“Being a seminarian is a big responsibility, but at the same time it is a great honor and joy. The perfect life for me is the one that has God as the base, has pastimes, has friends, has a hobby. … If you are with God, if you have God, if God is with you, you are not afraid to follow him,” said De Dios Hernández.