Galician from Pontevedra born in 1956, José Ramón Enjamio first professed as a Dominican in 1980 and seven years later he was ordained a priest. In almost 45 years of pastoral work, he has had three assignments: at the head of a university college in Valladolid, administrator and deputy director of the San Esteban publishing house, and since July 2015, at the Basilica of Candelaria, of which he is rector in the present.
Until you arrived in Candelaria in 2015, did you know this destination?
Going through our Islands was a transit. I began to preach in the Canary Islands in 1989, particularly in La Gomera, where I was in Valle Gran Rey during Holy Week, and then went to replace the parish priests Rufino and Carlos for a month or a half on the occasion of their silver anniversary. My known island was La Gomera, but to get there I had to pass through Tenerife and I transited through this convent; I have known this community since 1989.
Is popular religiosity at odds with faith?
No. Quite the opposite. At this time popular religiosity is very important in the faith of many people. We try to ensure that this popular religiosity continues to have content because in some places it remains in the folklore and does not go to the root.
His predecessor, Father Daniel, once said that at the August Festival there were those who came happy and others with red wine.
Certainly (laughs). I share that opinion.
Can you say: I believe in the Virgin of Candelaria, but not in priests?
Yes, it can be said and in fact it is said.
I mean is it consistent?
It’s not coherent. There are those who say: I believe in the Virgin of Candelaria. The Virgin is a mediation, in whom we have to believe she is in Christ. She is the role of Maria. That is why we must be good Marians, as all the popes encourage us, but not just stay in Mary, but walk towards Christ. The Virgin is in the place of channeling towards Christ.
Is religion in fashion?
Religion is not fashionable. Religion is a sense, a belief that gives meaning to life. It is not the same to live a life with God as without Him. Those who really want to be Christians, that first requires knowledge. Faith must not only be nurtured, celebrated, shared and spread, but also defended and for that to be possible, you must first have knowledge. No one can offer what they do not know and that happens by knowing, meditating and ruminating on the Bible.
And that is fashionable?
More and more people are turning to religion.
Can we understand religion as Church?
No. The Church is a place where religion can be celebrated and shared. There is no Church without a Christian community, that is why the Church is important. To make Church is to recognize all the struggles of Christians to announce the Kingdom.
Can one say: I believe in God but not in the Church?
It is a contradiction. I believe in God and I believe in the Church because she is a chosen instrument to make that belief a reality.
After two years of pandemic, is it noticeable in the devotion?
You see the need to go back again to find meaning in life. In the search for the meaning of life and happiness, there is also God. And that has increased. There are many people who are coming back again. The faith they received as children has not disappeared, but is dormant. It is enough that he finds enough lightning in a person for the flame to arise. Hence the role of many mothers and grandmothers in education in the faith. When a little child is not told about God. Who is going to talk to him? The important thing is that the family speaks to him first, in those areas where the child is going to develop as a human being. Then it is important that this child develops faith in Christian communities, in catechization.
Is there a resurgence of vocations?
There is a very slow revival. The vocations are now going to the countries where there are more births. The other day there were eight Dominican ordinations in Mexico, a country that had a very bad situation and that from Spain had to lend a hand. Now they have enough strength to evangelize on their own. Let’s not say Poland, which every year usually enters the order about fifteen in the Order of Preachers, and let’s not say the Philippines or Vietnam. In Africa we also have a great demand for Dominican formation, or in Germany or England.
I was commenting on it because of the recent ordination of Dailo Melo, a young Dominican from Candelaria.
This year four will begin their novitiate in Seville, one of them from Tenerife. In turn, six are going to start the pre-novitiate in Madrid, two of them from Tenerife.
Does the message of the gospel permeate youth?
The one that penetrates the message in the youth is being a challenge for the Church, but it is a universal challenge. Today it is not that young people do not have values; see the case of Santiago de Compostela, where more than 12,000 have just gathered. Has there been an interest in the media to make known what 12,000 young people mean in Santiago de Compostela? Youth need accompaniment. On Thursday I met a boy on the street in the ESO room who asked me why I became a priest, and he caught my attention.
And how did your vocation arise?
After living an experience of youth, at the age of 19 I felt a special call that radically changed my life and that even today I have no reason to say no. I am happy and I found the charism that helped me and helps me continue to fulfill myself as a person and as a religious.
The Church has also lacked muscle to announce it.
Yes, we are lacking muscle. We are too afraid to speak and above all to tell the truth. That is why we see many circumstances and we are afraid to intervene. The Church will always be criticized, whether it does good or does bad. Right now the situation is that you always see the speck. Few know the scope of what the Church is doing and a black chickpea is enough to give the Church a sanbenito.
What does the Virgin ask of him?
Pilgrimage to Candelaria as a meeting point is a reason for joy and to collect the feelings of gratitude and suffering that many people have during these years of pandemic, but they have to come out better than how they arrived in Candelaria because the message has had such an impact on them. of our Chaxiraxi, that inspires her and desires to continue fighting in every way. May they find what they are needing to get out of those potholes of darkness and senselessness.
Do young people identify with the Church?
Young people need references and the Virgin of Candelaria today is a reference for youth. We have to fight, we cannot throw in the towel in the face of life’s difficulties, and I meet many discouraged people, and I want them to have hope and feel the support so that this situation is more bearable with Our Lady, so that they do not feel alone. Here is a haven of peace.
