Torreciudad: from the 11th to the 21st centuryBettina Alonso: "Generous people give until it hurts a little bit".Ziarrusta, Bursar of Bilbao: "The economy is not important, but it is a necessary means".Antonio José Quintana Velasco is the Development Director of the Santuario de Torreciudad (Huesca, Spain). He has a degree in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. He is 55 years old, he is a stubborn Aragonese and has worked coordinating projects and looking for the necessary funds with the help of good talented teams for several foundations around the world (New York, Rome, Jerusalem, Spain...).
He has led training projects for young and mature people for years and is passionate about horses, among other things, for their nobility and courage.
What characteristics do the most generous people have?
They are those who are passionate about projects that affect the good of people, whether spiritual or material and whether poor or rich. They give their all to do good.
Why is it hard for us to ask for money for the Church?
Because perhaps we don't consider it very much our own. The Church develops many projects that support society around the world and have a tremendous impact. Either we don't know how to transmit it or we lack passion for the Church.
What does God and my money have to do with it?
Probably nothing. Money is the consequence of a job, a business or a simple inheritance. God is beyond: in the depths of the heart and conscience. That is what moves a person to act.
What leads non-believers to collaborate with the devotion to Our Lady?
To see her as Mother, as protector, as infinite love.
Why are there many young people who are not in tune with the Church?
I think that's not entirely true. There is much more restlessness in young people than we think. We simply have to wake them up and give them the tools to know how to listen and understand.
Why are we afraid of change?
Because our tendency is to survive. Time does not fix problems. It fixes them by tackling them with prudence and serenity, but without stopping. We have to get out of our personal comfort zone
Why does money give us security?
May it be to do and promote many good things for others. We take nothing with us to the grave.
A book?
Spiritual? Forge, by St. Josemaría Escrivá. Novel? Katrina, by Sally Salminen.
A place?
Holy Land
A wine?
Unfortunately, I know almost nothing about wine.
A dream?
May the Holy Father come one day to the Shrine of Torreciudad.
A fear?
Not living up to the needs of others.
What awaits us after the pandemic?
I have a crazy desire to travel. Hopefully it will be to go on pilgrimage to a Marian shrine and find consolation in the Virgin after so much suffering.
What can Our Lady do for each one of us?
Imagine what a mother does for her children... Well, incomparably more.
How much does the mission of the Church cost?
A lot of sacrifice, a lot of dedication of so many men and women and also, because it is necessary, a lot of economic resources to serve humanity.
Is it true that the poor are more generous?
I don't think so. Generosity is a virtue for everyone. It is not because you are rich and can give more that you are more generous. And sometimes you can't give anything and you are attached to the little you have. One is generous above all when one gives oneself, and that does not understand money.
