“I was one of the first journalist priests,” recalls Justo García Turza, Don Justo, when he begins to review his career. «In 1965, the bishop sent me to the University of Navarra to study Canon Law and Journalism and by 1969 I had already done it. … “I finished everything,” recalls this Rioja native, a descendant of Matute, who for more than two decades collaborated with Diario LA RIOJA. “I have written about what worried people and me,” he says.
Before coming to the newspaper, García Turza had already worked in other media outlets. “I can say that I feel proud to be a journalist,” the priest certifies. “I think I haven’t done it badly, although I could have done better, especially in my writings in the newspaper,” he adds. Not in vain, the man from Rioja still remembers what his mother recommended after seeing his first text published in Diario LA RIOJA. “She read it to me and told me that it wasn’t going well there,” he recalls. «It was a kind of sermon, a small homily, and she assured me that no one would read me that way; I listened to him and started to be more feisty,” he adds.
“I was one of the first journalist priests,” recalls García Turza, who also studied Canon Law
And that philosophy is what he has maintained during the 23 years that he has been collaborating with this medium. “I have done everything I can to defend the Church and to draw attention to the problems that concern people the most,” she explains. “And I have always respected everyone, those who believe more, those who believe less and those who do not believe,” summarizes Matute, who confesses to being passionate about sports.
García Turza, a faithful defender of La Rioja having better transport infrastructure, regrets that the region has been “ignored” in this regard. He has never cared about offering his point of view on that topic or on many others and that has caused many people to stop him on the street to talk to him about his texts. “It happened to me all the time and most of the people were very correct and polite,” he says. “What’s more, some told me that they did not agree with me, but they respected my opinion and wanted me to continue offering it in the newspaper,” he says, later stating that “many others” liked what he said and that there are still many of them today. the Riojans who ask him why he has stopped writing. “They tell me that every day,” he certifies.
“My mother read my first text for the newspaper and told me that it was not going well,” recalls the priest.
Thus, looking back, García Turza considers that Diario LA RIOJA has helped him “a lot” in his career. “I have always read it because it is our newspaper and, furthermore, I have made very good friends thanks to it,” he says. “In fact, I still read it every day, although now I do it on the internet even though I like paper much more,” concludes the Riojan.
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