The Seminario Mayor de Toledo will host on this January 3, 2026 a day of conferences on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the venerable José Rivera Ramírez, diocesan priest and key figure in Spanish priestly spirituality of the 20th century. The event will culminate with the celebration of Holy Mass in the parish of Santo Tomé, where he was baptized and where his remains rest.
The day, of an academic and spiritual nature, brings together several Spanish bishops who will address various aspects of Rivera’s thought, interior life, and pastoral legacy, on a significant date for the primatial archdiocese.
Program of the day
The conferences will take place throughout the day at the Seminario Mayor de Toledo. At 11:00 a.m., Monsignor Jesús Sanz Montes will deliver the lecture titled “Fr. José and Discernment”. At 12:30 p.m., Monsignor José Ángel Saiz Meneses will intervene with the conference “Fr. José and the Sapiential Study of Theology”.
In the afternoon, at 4:00 p.m., Monsignor José Ignacio Munilla Aguirre will speak on “Fr. José and His Love for the Church”, while at 5:30 p.m., Monsignor Demetrio Fernández González will close the cycle of lectures with the conference “Fr. José and Priestly Spirituality”.
The day will conclude at 7:30 p.m. with the Holy Mass, presided over by the Archbishop of Toledo, Monsignor Francisco Cerro Chaves, in the parish of Santo Tomé, a place of special significance in the life of the venerable.
Who was the venerable José Rivera Ramírez
José Rivera Ramírez was born in Toledo in 1926 and was ordained a priest in 1952. He developed his ministry mainly in the Archdiocese of Toledo, where he stood out for his profound interior life, his dedication to priestly formation, and his intense work as a spiritual director.
He was especially known for his teaching on the spiritual life of the priest, the value of discernment, the centrality of prayer, and fidelity to the Church lived from humility and obedience. His thought, collected in numerous writings and conferences, notably influenced generations of priests and seminarians.
Far from protagonism or media projection, Rivera lived his priesthood in a discreet and demanding way, marked by a solid spirituality, deeply ecclesial and centered on the priest’s configuration with Christ. He died in 1991, with a reputation for holiness.
The Pope Francis declared him venerable in 2023, officially recognizing the heroism of his virtues, a decisive step in the beatification process.
A Living Legacy
The centenary of his birth offers an opportunity to rediscover a priestly figure who remains a reference in a context of vocational crisis and identity of the ordained ministry. The planned conferences seek precisely to reread his legacy from current keys, without decontextualizing it or diluting its spiritual demands.