Manuel, 21, attended the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce. He served with the youth group and as an altar server in his home parish of San José. He assisted with various pastoral groups and ministries at Parroquia Santos Ángeles in Yabucoa as part of his formation as a diocesan seminarian. At the seminary, Manuel learned about the spirituality and the lives of Jesuits, which motivated him to further discern a call to life in the Society. Last summer, Manuel was an evangelist and catechist with Obras Misionales Pontificias in the Amazon region of Colombia.