Bishop Santiago Sánchez Sebastián

Dom Santiago is 58 years old. Born in Cortes (Navarra, Spain), he spent his early years with his family, consisting of his parents, Julián and Lucía, and two siblings. At a very young age, he became a seminarian at the Augustinian Recollect Apostolic College in Lodosa (Navarra, Spain), where he completed his primary education. He continued his formation in Fuenterrabia (Guipúzcoa, Spain)—secondary education and philosophy—, Monteagudo (Navarra, Spain)—novitiate—, and Marcilla (Navarra, Spain)—theology. It was in the latter location that he made his solemn profession, was ordained a deacon by Dom Martin Legarra (an Augustinian Recollect) in 1979, and was ordained a priest by Dom José María Cirarda, Archbishop of Pamplona (Navarra, Spain), in 1980. Shortly after his ordination, his first assignment was to the Saint Augustine Seminary in Valladolid (Spain), which also served as a school for day students. Santiago served simultaneously as a formator in the minor seminary and as a teacher for the day students, with the latter role focused on religious education and catechesis. For eight years, he carried out this dual ministry—formator and teacher—with noble dedication. In 1988, he received a new assignment to the Saint Joseph Seminary in Lodosa (Navarra, Spain), where the Province's seminarians were then completing their secondary education and university preparatory courses. Santiago assumed primary responsibility for the seminarians' formation for five years, until the seminary closed. He subsequently remained in the Lodosa community for another four years, teaching religion at the Pablo Sarasate state school. Following the 1997 Provincial Chapter, he was appointed novice master at the Monteagudo friary (Navarra, Spain), a role he held for nine years. Throughout this time, he carried out his duties with distinctive characteristics, such as remaining constantly with the novices and dedicating himself to their formation with unwavering commitment and perseverance. Friar Santiago’s desire to go to the missions was well known to everyone. Finally, in 2006, he was assigned to Brazil—not to the Mission of Lábrea (Amazonas), where he might have hoped to serve, but to the Saint Augustine Formation House in the Barra do Ceará neighborhood of Fortaleza (Ceará). At that time, the residence for Brazilian seminarians from the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino who were studying philosophy was located there. Santiago served as prior and formator in this community for two three-year terms, until 2012, when he was assigned to the Santa Rita Parish in Manaus (Amazonas) as parish priest and delegate of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Brazil. He had been serving in this role for just over four years when he was appointed bishop of the Prelature of Lábrea (Amazonas), succeeding the Augustinian Recollect Dom Jesus Moraza Ruiz de Azua. The Augustinian Recollects arrived in Lábrea in 1925. All the prelates and bishops of this Brazilian prelature have been Augustinian Recollects. From a human perspective, it is not a coveted prelature: the climate is extremely tropical; the territory is vast—about 220,000 square kilometers, nearly half the size of Spain; transportation relies solely on rivers; health and education indicators are very low; Lábrea represents a different Brazil—one of second or third-class status. Friar Santiago is well aware of the difficult circumstances in which he will have to exercise pastoral charity, yet the appointment was proposed, and he accepted. Just as the light of the tabernacle has illuminated him during the night on many occasions, it has done so with even greater significance at this moment. And, just as he has always accepted the responsibilities and assignments given to him—devoting himself fully to fulfilling them without holding anything back—he has done so again now, following so much prior preparation. This coming Sunday, June 5, Friar Santiago will be consecrated bishop at the cathedral in Manaus (Amazonas), with Dom Sergio Eduardo Castriani, Archbishop of the Amazonian capital, serving as the principal consecrator. The new bishop has adopted a phrase from Saint Augustine’s Sermon 56, 5.7 as his episcopal motto; it faithfully illuminates the guiding principle of his religious and priestly life: "Let Your will be done in me, that I may not resist." This phrase is inscribed on his coat of arms, which features several prominent elements: a cross and the book-and-heart—classic Augustinian symbols—set against a background of rippling waters (representing the Purus, the river central to life in the Prelature of Lábrea), along with the colors green and blue, the most common hues in the Amazonian landscape. The Order of Augustinian Recollects, and especially the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, feels honored in the person of Friar Santiago Sánchez Sebastián, whom the Church has chosen to serve as bishop and shepherd of the Prelature of Lábrea. We congratulate Friar Santiago on the trust Pope Francis has placed in him and pray that he may spend himself entirely for the benefit of the people of the Prelature of Lábrea, who will thus be able to see in their bishop a bearer of Gospel hope and light.