The diocese of Valencia is preparing to host a state funeral for the more than two hundred victims that the floods of October 29 have caused in the province. As ABC has learned The governing council of the archbishopric of Valencia has already evaluated the possibility to carry out a ceremony of this type, although in contact with state authorities they have considered that “it should be held later”, when the situation in the most affected area begins to normalize, so that the participation of the relatives of the victims can be encouraged. deceased.
Likewise, the possibility of it being held in the Valencia Cathedral or in one of the affected areas is also being considered. This second option, “which would have a greater symbolic load», poses greater logistical problems since, it is beginning to be now, two weeks later, when communications between some of the populations begin to be reestablished, with many restrictions.
Until the ceremony for those who died from Covid-19, all state funerals held in Spain had been Catholic. In fact, even on that occasion, when a non-denominational ceremony was held in the Plaza de la Armería, in front of the Royal Palace, a Eucharist was celebrated in the Madrid cathedral a week before. However, capacity restrictions led at that time to holding an outdoor event with a very small number of guests. «In this case it would not make sense to restrict access to family members.”say sources close to the archbishopric of Valencia. In any case, even if it were a Catholic ceremony “there would also be signs for believers of other religions or those who do not profess any belief,” the same sources point out.
In any case, and until the Head of State or the Presidency of the Government, as is appropriate in these cases, formally requests the archbishopric of Valencia to organize this ceremony, the archbishop of the diocese, Enrique Benavent, will He plans to preside over different funerals in each of the affected townsas a way to “accompany family members in pain and also share hope in the resurrection,” they added. Also in this case, we will wait for all the cleaning and restoration tasks to be completed, since many temples have also been affected by the flood or are now being used as a logistics center for the distribution of aid.
For its part, the Spanish Episcopal Conference has already called a Eucharist in memory of the victims of DANA and all those affected, which will be held next Tuesday, November 19 at 7 p.m. in the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. It is not properly a State funeral but an exclusive decision of the Episcopal Conference, as already happened in July 2020 with the victims of Covid-19, apart from the non-denominational event.
On that occasion, the main guests were King Felipe and Queen Letizia, the Princess of Asturias, Leonor, and Infanta Sofía. In the absence of the President of the GovernmentPedro Sánchez, and the then second vice president Pablo Iglesias, the Executive was represented by Carmen Calvo, at the time first vice president. Also present were the presidents of the Congress and the Senate, the president of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the president of the Community of Madrid, the mayor of the capital, the leader of the opposition, the Chief of the Defense Staff and the Government delegate in Madrid, as well as 32 Catholic bishops and representatives of other religious confessions.
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