Cesáreo Gabaráin

Who was Cesáreo Gabaráin?

Cesáreo Gabaráin was a Spanish priest and composer of liturgical songs such as Pescador de hombres. He received a Gold Record award in Spain, and his music is well known and sung by Spanish speaking people. He became a hymn-writer when he was thirty and then wrote about five hundred of them. He was trying to write songs that were easy to learn and sing by the entire congregation. His hymns support moments of personal and communal prayer and praise to God.

He was born in Hernani in 1936. In addition to music, he studied at the Seminary in Zaragoza and at the Seminario Mayor de San Sebastian, from 1946 to 1952. He became a priest in 1959. In the 60's and 70's, he was a chaplain at a colleges and nursing homes. In the 80's, He was an assistant priest in his parish in Madrid and head of a religious department at a college. In 1991, when he was 55 he died of cancer.

Pope John Paul II's Chaplain Prelate, He had 37 albums. He conducted workshops in 22 U.S. cities before dying in Anzuola in 1991. He ministered to cyclists participating in the Tour de France and other athletes. Five of his hyms are in the United Methodist Hymnal, the most popular of which is “Fisher of Men,” with its gentle melody. The hymn was used in two movies. When a tour guide in Palestine said the hymn occurred by Lake Tiberias, the priest smiled. He wrote it in Madrid. “Fisher of Men” has been translated into more than 80 languages.