After two years without Holy Week processions, the image of Jesús del Gran Poder came out this Saturday at 9.15 am from its basilica, in the heart of Seville, to travel about seven kilometers in an “evangelizing mission”, as announced by the Brotherhood of the Gran Poder, until arriving at 7.30 p.m. to the church of La Blanca Paloma, in Los Pajaritos, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Spain. Thousands of people have taken to the streets to accompany this extraordinary procession, the great religious event that ends the restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic that forced the cancellation of all mass events. The Lord of Seville, as the faithful call the image made by Juan de Mesa (Córdoba 1583-Seville, 1627), has come out to commemorate the 400th anniversary of its making, which was scheduled for 2020 and had to be postponed due to the covid.
In addition to bringing the popular image closer to Tres Barrios, one of the most affected areas of the country where unemployment reaches 70% of the population, the procession has become almost a rehearsal for Holy Week in 2022 “which has passed normally and without large crowds ”, has specified a spokesman for the Seville City Council. The mission that the Brotherhood of the Great Power has been preparing since 2018 aims to raise funds for the charity bags of the parish Caritas groups that serve this area of the Andalusian capital. During the procession, the members of the brotherhood have distributed stamps with the image of Jesus and a Bizum account number where donations can be made.
The baroque image has traveled about 10 kilometers carried by 5,000 people who have taken turns during the journey. During the tour, most of the public were seen wearing masks, but without respecting the safety distance in the key sections of the journey, of about 10 hours, until reaching the parish of La Blanca Paloma, passing before the temples of the brotherhoods of Los Gitanos, San Benito, Little Sisters of the Poor and of the Thirst.
After spending a week in Los Pajaritos, the likes of Juan de Mesa will visit two other parishes that make up the impoverished Tres Barrios-Amate district, where almost half of the residents are immigrants. On the 23rd it will arrive at the Parish of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria and on the 30th it will be carried to the Parish of Santa Teresa, where it will remain until on November 5 it moves, already in its path, to the Cathedral of Seville.
At various points in the procession, with a procession of 150 people who have accompanied the baroque carving, but without a band, several arrows have been heard. The first, while the image left the basilica, where some people had been waiting since dawn to see how Jesus of the Great Power left his temple in the Plaza de San Lorenzo, to which he will return on November 6. “This is the greatest. I cannot describe what I feel, I have no words ”, said Manuel Rodríguez, a man who was waiting for the procession to pass from 8:00 am in front of the Church of the Annunciation.
The transfer of the Lord of Seville, which during Holy Week goes out in procession in the Madrugá, has been assisted by 500 personnel from emergencies, services and municipal companies throughout the journey. The Local Police, which has cut traffic by sections during the route, has established 130 traffic control points, depending on the progress of the delegation and the influx of public.