Biography
Father Alfonso Galvez Morillas was born in Totana, in the province of Murcia (Spain), on June 4, 1932, into the bosom of a poor Christian family. He attended grammar school in his hometown at the Miraculous Medal School run by the Sisters of Charity. In 1942, Father Alfonso began his High School studies at the Institute of Alfonso X The Wise in Murcia.
In 1949, he started studying Law at the University of Murcia and it was then that Father Alfonso felt the Lord’s call to the priesthood. The following year, he entered the Seminary of Saint Fulgentius in Murcia. With the permission of the Most Reverend Bishop Ramon Sanahuja y Marcé, Bishop of Murcia, Father Alfonso was able to attend to his ecclesiastical and civil studies simultaneously.
Father Alfonso was ordained in Murcia on June 10, 1956, and was immediately assigned as a curate to Saint Andrew’s Parish. There he formally began his work with youth; although, in fact, he had already undertaken this task as a seminarian.
In September 1959, he was appointed philosophy teacher at Saint Louis Gonzaga Seminary by his bishop to Cuenca (Ecuador). Two years later, the bishop of Cuenca assigned Father to El Tambo; and, after a time, Father asked and received permission from both the bishop of Murcia and the bishop of Cuenca to go to Venezuela where he spent two and a half years as pastor of Saint Anthony’s Parish in Barquisimeto, thus completing the five-year term for which he was sent to South America.
Upon Father Alfonso’s return to Spain, Most Reverend Bishop Miguel Roca Cabanellas assigned him again as a curate to Saint Andrew’s Parish; but now Father was granted greater freedom to dedicate himself to working with the youth, a mission the bishop approved and wholeheartedly blessed. Successive bishops of Murcia released Father Alfonso from pastoral parish work so that he might devote himself entirely to the specific mission God had entrusted to him: The Society of Jesus Christ the Priest.
The Society of Jesus Christ the Priest was approved as a Pious Union on July 29, 1980, by the Most Reverend Bishop Javier Azagra. Afterward, on November 27, 1986, this same bishop approved the Society under the juridical figure of Association of the Faithful to correspond with the new Code of Canon Law.
From 1982, Father Alfonso resided at the Society’s headquarters, El Pedregal Residence in Mazarron, Murcia (Spain) until his passing in July 2022.
El Pedregal is a formation center for those young men preparing for school and college studies. The tasks of guiding the Society in other countries where it is present (USA and Ecuador) and forming young candidates to the priesthood are conducted from El Pedregal, the Society relies on Shoreless Lake School, which was founded in 1991 by Father Alfonso for the academic, human, and spiritual formation of students. Ten years later, Shoreless Lake School moved to Totana, Spain. Currently, the school only admits young members of the Society, with a view to priestly formation. This school has an extension in Sauk City (Wisconsin), for girls who are willing to be part of the Women's Branch of the Society, which has two houses in Spain and Wisconsin.
In 2009, Fr. Alfonso began posting some sermons and articles on his own website, along with other recordings from previous years.
In the summer of 2018, his health began to decline with the years, preventing him from continuing to preach in public and private. Cared for by his spiritual children in El Pedregal throughout this long process of deteriorating health, he was hospitalized in La Vega de Murcia on July 2, where he gave his soul to God on July 6, 2022.
Throughout his life, Father Alfonso has combined his pastoral work with an important and prodigious writing pursuit. Among his writings, Father has many meditations. He has published Commentaries to the Song of Songs (two volumes); The Feast of Man and the Feast of God; Prayer; The Importunate Friend; Notes on the Spirituality of Jesus Christ the Priest; Waiting for Don Quixote; Homilies; Seven Letters to Seven Bishops; Ecclesiastical Winter…
