Ángel Fernández Artime

Ángel Fernández Artime (born 21 August 1960) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the Rector Major of the Salesians. Quotes I do not believe that young people of today do not want to know about God... much less that they do not seek meaning in life. That would be an incorrect judgement. What is true is that we cannot expect young people to come to us... We are duty bound to reach them. But the reality is that, all over the world, young people are open and available to be reached if they find someone who can be their educators, be their friends. Cardinal Fernández Artime: 'Young People Today Need Witnesses Above All' (31 January 2024) "I am still that little boy from Luanco, where I really feel at home among my people and my compatriots. It is essential in life not to forget our roots. [...] I will continue to be the same, with a different responsibility, but profoundly human and solidly grounded. [...] Feels very happy to accompany young people in their life. It is in my DNA, and wherever I go and whatever I am asked to do, there will always be attention to the young, to education, to the most vulnerable, and this is what I will be able to offer, together with my personal style, to my new service, where I will try to give the best of myself, through dialogue and respect for diversity. As quoted in The future Cardinal, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime: "Wherever I go and whatever I am asked to do, there will always be attention to the young, to education, to the most vulnerable" Q: Who would Ángel Fernández Artime be today if he had not known the Salesians? A: Had I not known the Salesians, I was going to be a fisherman, like my cousins or my father. That was my future. But once I was able to study more, thanks to the Salesians, I thought I would be a doctor. I liked medicine so much that I had thought of starting my college studies towards it. But then, the mystery of God that makes you feel something special in your heart… I remember that already as I was to begin my college studies, I felt I had to talk to my parents about it. And the answer, which I cannot but see as a mediation from God, was: ‘Son, this is your life. If it makes you happy, go!”. That was the whole discernment. As quoted in Cardinal Fernández Artime: ‘Young People Today Need Witnesses Above All (January 31, 2024) My childhood was that of a very simple and serene child, in a village in northern Spain, a small village on the sea, a fishing village: a context that has deeply marked me, starting from nature, the sea, the sun. I was a child and then a teenager who grew up in a very healthy, very humble family of fishermen, where everything was simple, where the affection of my parents was sincere, with a grandmother, an uncle, with other grandparents and uncles and emotional ties that allowed me to grow with great emotional confidence and which I believe made me a boy, then a young man and then an adult who was particularly serene, quiet, affectionate, expansive, full of feelings. Q: How did your Salesian vocation come about? A: For two reasons. First of all, I grew up in a happy family. A simple and genuine Christian environment where God was present, where devotion to Mary was alive, where I saw how my father, my uncle, when they left for the sea, trusted in God because the sea can be very treacherous and they did not know what they would encounter. And then because I was able to study with the Salesians. An elderly person who was a friend of the Salesians in Leon and who spent his summer holidays in my village was a good friend of my parents and thought that the best thing he could do for this child, who was me, was for him to study with the Salesians. I left my village like this, met the Salesians and was very impressed by how the Salesians treated me and my companions, by their friendship, spontaneity, affability, simplicity. All this meant that I was somewhat anxious,because although I had already conmpleted the documentation to enter the University to study medicine or chemistry, the desire welled up in me to try a choice of life that promised happiness, with the Salesians. As quoted in Ten questions put to Fr Ángel Fernández Artime Rector Major External links Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Catholics from Spain Category:Cardinals