Province: Central America and Mexico
Country: Nicaragua
Date of Birth: October 29, 1987
First Vows: August 6, 2015
Ordination: December 8, 2020
Speaks: Spanish
Understands: Spanish
I am Fr. Jairo Uriel Sevilla Mendoza, MSC of the Province of Central America and Mexico. I was born on the 29th of October 1987 in the department of Rio San Juan, diocese of Juigalpa, Nicaragua, my parents are Carlos Alberto Sevilla and Ana Dolores Mendoza. My siblings Henry, Carlos, Aracely and Armando come from a simple peasant family.
At the age of 23 I began the formation process with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I studied philosophy in Guatemala, the novitiate in the Dominican Republic and theology at the Latin American theologate José María Gran in El Salvador. At the end of my studies, I was assigned to the missionary community in the parish of San José de Bocay, in the north of Nicaragua, in the diocese of Jinotega.
After 8 months I was assigned to a new mission, which is where I am at present, the Faustino Villanueva Centre for Youth Promotion and Rural Development. The Centre is home to the San Agustín Technical Vocational Institute and the Gaspar García Laviana boarding school. In addition, I give support in the parish of San Agustín, which is a parish with more than 98 villages. Both the parish and the Centre are located in the north of Guatemala, in Alta Verapaz in the municipality of Chahal. It is a mission in the mountains, with indigenous Qeqchi people. A very challenging experience, but one of living faith walking with the people.