On the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pope Leo XIV presided over Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, where he ordained 32 new priests, marking the conclusion of the Jubilee dedicated to seminarians. The Holy Father urged the clergy to center their lives around the Eucharist, to practice charity, care for God’s people, and foster unity within the Church: 

“In this age of vast and devastating conflicts, [we are reminded] that the love of God has no limits.  We are called to let ourselves be embraced and shaped by that love, and to realize that in God’s eyes – and our own as well – there is no place for division and hatred of any kind.”

Among the 32 newly ordained was Gilbert Tika, a seminarian from Ghana. In an interview with EWTN Vatican correspondent, Valentina Di Donato, he shared his reflections on his calling and journey to the priesthood. 

If you can bring me back to the moment in which you had this calling to become a priest. What was that moment like? 

It all started when I was a small boy in primary school, growing up in my part of the country in a remote area with a low level of education. he priests were not native priests, they don’t speak my language so as a small boy, an altar server, I was active and I would go around with the priest to celebrate Mass and to serve as an altar boy, it was in this moment that the priest not being able to speak my language, there was always a need to translate the homily of the priest so the people could understand.

And so in some occasions when there was no one to do it, even as a small boy, the priest would ask me to do the translation, to translate his homily for the assembly, for the congregation.

It was in this context in one of these occasions that I got this inspiration after having translated I felt, why don’t you become a priest one day to talk to the people directly yourself instead of translating what someone else is saying…. so this desire started growing in me as I had more experiences of this sort. 

So that moment, that contact with your community back in Ghana, sounds like really moved you. Friday you will be embarking on your mission to become a priest, what is the goal of a priest in society today? 

Being a priest today, for me means I have to be a sign of hope for the people with whom I live, with whom I will minister. Practicing the habit of looking at things with the eyes of Jesus Christ. And helping others to look at the world through the eyes of Christ and to let the people feel they are still loved by God. Because sometimes in the midst of many things people forget that we are loved and that God is with us. 

You are about to start your mission on Friday, Pope Leo just became pope, how do you see him, Pope Leo who will ordain you on Friday? 

I feel that he is a gift to the Church in this moment. And beginning his ministry as the successor of Peter, talking about peace, a gift of peace in the world today that is almost at the verge of war, there are many wars at the moment. This desire of presenting peace to the world to me is a good sign and I wish to see this dream of the pope come true through the participation of each of us. 

You will be returning back to Ghana, what makes you want to go back to carry out your priesthood? 

I feel happy about going back to Ghana again because first of all, my bishop sent me to Rome to study and then to come back to Ghana in the diocese of Damongo to minister as a priest, and I feel that it's an opportunity to make an experience of the universal church, of the richness of the Church and I like to share this experience with my own people.  

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Adapted by Jacob Stein  

Authored by Valentina di Donato; Produced by Andrea Manna; Camera by Gianluca Gangemi and Sergio Natoli; Video Edited by Alessio Di Cintio; Special thanks & Credits to Vatican Media