The diocese welcomes a new priest from El Salvador

Intermountain Catholic

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Father Rafael A. Murillo Ventura

RICHFIELD – Feb. 1 marked the first day that Father Rafael A. Murillo Ventura started his assignment at Saint Elizabeth Parish in Richfield, temporarily taking the place of Father Rick Sherman, the pastor, who is now on sabbatical.

The Richfield parish will be served by four different priests, including Fr. Murillo, until permanent assignments are announced in August, said Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Fr. Murillo arrived in Utah from San Vicente, El Salvador. He was ordained a priest in 1996 in El Salvador by the Most Reverend Monsignor Jose Oscar Baraona Castillo; he had entered the seminary at 18 to have his vocation to priesthood become a reality.

"One of the biggest incentives that I have is to feel that one can help; that we can serve and be part of a very extensive family," said Fr. Murillo.

After he decided to follow his vocation, his family supported him even when they felt a mixture of joy and sadness, he said.

"Joy, because for a family having a priest is a gift, it’s very special, it’s a joy. Sadness because this vocation somehow means having to resign your family; I mean, somehow – because we don’t forget about them – but we have to be conscious that after selecting this road we spend more time with our ecclesiastic family," said Fr. Murillo.

After he was ordained a priest, his first assignment was in Tilobasco Cabanas in El Salvador, where he stayed for about 15 months; then his bishop suggested that he go to Rome to complete a higher degree in theological studies at the Gregorian Pontifical University.

"For me it was a marvelous and unique experience. I was there during the term of Pope John Paul II," said Fr. Murillo.

After finishing his studies, Fr. Murillo spent a short time in the Baltimore archdiocese before returning to El Salvador.

The invitation to Salt Lake City came through his fellow priest friends from El Salvador who are now in Utah. Four priests in the Diocese of Salt Lake City have come from El Salvador (Father José Barrera-Hernández, parochial vicar of Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Ogden; Father German Umaña, parochial vicar at Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish in Park City; Father Marco Tulio López, administrator of San Felipe Parish in Wendover; and Father José Fidel Barrera-Cruz, parochial vicar at Christ the King Parish in Cedar City).

Fr. Murillo now will be spending some time as the temporary parochial vicar at Saint Francis Xavier Parish in Kearns, where Father Joseph Frez has been named the temporary administrator.

"I think that as priests we always are moved by serving our Church. Where our Church needs us, we are committed to the Universal Church," said Fr. Murillo, adding that one of his goals is to be able to discover the needs of the Church in his new area. "I want to accompany the people because they have the right to have their priests. The faith is always the same everywhere; the migrants have the right to pastoral assistant of the Church."

Fr. Murillo is especially concerned that the community always keep the treasure of the faith.

"We have to keep it and to make it stronger, especially in this Year of Faith. We know that all we do is a gift from God. I like to remember John Paul II’s words: What God has given us we have in clay pots, meaning that the results come from the Holy Spirit, not from our own capacity," said Fr. Murillo. "I want to tell the people that even with the difficulties we are going through, we need to be faithful to our Church no matter what, the good and the not so good. Our Church is a divine institution that always will overcome all the difficulties, as it has been doing for 2,013 years."