By PEDRO LUIS CONTRERAS TIRADO
The Venezuelan context in recent years has been one of the most difficult in all of our history; It would suffice to describe the political events that have placed the name of our country on the front pages of the world, and with this we have the best diagnosis that a headline about Venezuela is far from bringing good news. Specifically, Venezuelan society seems hopeless in the face of such a situation, and this has forced many to leave our country upon verifying that in Venezuela there is a serious humanitarian and economic crisis and a systematic violation of human rights. In short, a country plunged into a huge crisis with no apparent solution.
Although it seems that all is lost, our Andrés Bello Catholic University is the bet that the Society of Jesus gives to the country; a university where dialogue, research, debate of ideas, and, above all, the comprehensive training of young people who have given and continue to give the fight for the reconstruction of the country is, without a doubt, the great good news of Venezuela; the report that should appear as a headline in the media.
Like all good boats, which, as we have mentioned, supra It is our UCAB, it needs a captain to direct it and bring it to a successful conclusion. For this reason, in 2010, the Society of Jesus selected an important priest, who came from directing the Gumilla Center, to succeed a great one such as Father Luis Ugalde sj Father Francisco José Virtuoso sj was the proposal of Provincial Arturo Peraza , sj, (today our new rector) before the Foundation Council and his appointment for the period 2010-2014 was approved.
With the idea of contextualizing my entry and knowledge of the Virtuoso father, I moved to my last year of high school, which specifically had been in the 2010-2011 school year; I toured the main universities in Caracas with great emotion, and from the moment I entered the Ucabista campus in Montalbán, I knew that this was my place, and without further hesitation, I pre-enrolled in the Faculty of Law, accompanied by my grandfather, who He always supported me in these big decisions.
I will never forget how I was admitted, in that year 2011; The General Secretariat of the UCAB sent me an email to tell me that I had been on the list of those admitted to the Faculty of Law, and also a link that redirected to a video recorded by the rector; That was the first time I was able to listen to the Virtuoso father. Although some years have passed, I do not forget those inspiring words for a young man who aspired to start his university career; The simplicity, but the temperance of his words, made me assert even more that I was in the right place, a university concerned about the country, and that precisely took care of it, in the integral formation of young people, with closeness, and inspired by the values of San Ignacio, the closing of that message was “In everything love and serve”.
For that Pedro Contreras, barely three weeks after starting classes at UCAB, a new challenge was presented to him: fulfilling an assignment for a subject, which urged us to learn about all the areas and dimensions of the university; Precisely, the same intrigue to familiarize myself with all the dependencies of our campus, led me to ask myself: will it be possible to go to the rectory, interview the rector and be able to interview him? At first glance it looked like a complicated challenge, but I remembered the nearby video of the Virtuoso father being admitted, and I ventured to look for that interview without an appointment.
Indeed, without any fear, and trusting in the quasi-familiar closeness that this house of studies that is the UCAB offered us, I was received by his secretary, and I was able to meet him, who, coming out of his office, commented to me with a big smile: “I’m in a meeting with some benefactors from the university, but wait for me a few minutes and I’ll attend to you”, and that’s how, without much protocol, the Virtuoso father received this first year student, so that he could perform some small questions, and even photographed that iconic moment. By the way, my work was rated with the highest grade! That was the Virtuoso father, a man always committed to his flock, as a good shepherd of the Society of Jesus.
He was a man who created ties with young Venezuelans. He had a vision of us, that group of students from 2014, of great protection and guidance, and as a good family man, he was willing to raise the tone when our impetuousness risked the name of the university, and even our physical integrity. It is that, without a doubt, for a generation of students in 2014 and 2015, the hard core and fundamental of one of the many waves of protests, we convinced ourselves that we were necessary to push for political change in our country and in our society. It was not just impetuosity, the training we had received in our classrooms was inspired by the rule of law, the safeguarding of our Constitution, and service with others; our student struggle that year had the motto “excellence and commitment”, really that libertarian spirit had been born at UCAB, by the classes taught, and by the accompaniment of our rector.
The physical departure of the Virtuoso rector left great wounds in the hearts of those students, who today are graduates, that harvest that he sowed, cared for and formed during all those years, convinced that we would be that future that he longed for for our country. Today, from the position of representative of the graduates in the UCAB university council, I look for inspiration in him to pass it on to all our graduates, who live at UCAB, in our country and even beyond our borders. I am convinced that the best demonstration of affection, closeness and respect for everything that the Virtuoso father gave us is to continue fighting from any space where we live, with the ucabista seal that characterizes us, with the values of San Ignacio, but, above all, everything, with the model to follow that he always transmitted to us.
There is no better tribute than showing him that his academic, social and political harvest flourished, and his graduates throughout these years where he served as the captain of the ship are the main promoters of change, and an example for future generations of young people. who bet on change in Venezuela.