The four brotherhoods that make up this body are reluctant to incorporate Divine Mercy, which has been placed in the hands of the Bishopric
A stir in the processionist world four months before Holy Week. The Christ of Divine Mercy Canonical Association, which for two decades has organized a Stations of the Cross every Friday in Dolores that begins in the Plaza de la Merced, has asked to join the Holy Week Brotherhood Board, to which Marrajos belong, Californios, the Christ of Help and the Risen One.
The association that has as its owner the Lord of the Lake and also processes an image of the Virgin of the Forsaken and a Saint John made his request a few weeks ago through the Bishopric of Cartagena. Through this channel, he sent a documented and argued request defending his rights and highlighting its parallels with the historical brotherhoods: legal identity as a public association of the faithful, passionate character and public manifestation of faith in the context of Holy Week.
The request gives a period of one month to the Board of Brotherhoods to pronounce on the matter. This ended on Sunday without a response, since the rest of the brotherhoods plan to hold meetings and monographic table councils in the coming days to, first, make decisions and, later, put them in common.
Bylaws close the door
However, in the spirit of the four brotherhoods of Holy Week is not the admission of a fifth. From the outset, they agree that the new statutes of the Board, finally approved four years ago, do not contemplate incorporations. And the possible reform of these rules is not foreseen, moreover, for another decade, as the bishopric itself recommends it.
There is another underlying problem that is not minor. The Canonical Association of Christ of Divine Mercy arose in 2001 by a split of brothers from the California Brotherhood. It was founded by Francisco Cánovas Carretero, who until then had been president of the California group of Cristo de la Misericordia. He left office after some controversial votes and left the brotherhood taking the image of Christ, which is his, attributes to Francisco Salzillo and arouses great fervor. Shortly afterwards, he opened the oratory in a place on loan from the Lake. After years of intense efforts, the Bishopric authorized the canonical association in 2009, legitimizing its Stations of the Cross and that small chapel, attached to the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (San Diego). Cánovas thus closed a chapter of unsuccessful attempts to create his own brotherhood between 1976 and 1983, as well as a subsequent 17-year California stage marked by differences with the leadership of the brotherhood in which he was integrated by episcopal indication.
However, already in its new stage, Cánovas assured that it was not in his mind to be the fifth brotherhood and remove hoods. “Our place is with the poor of the neighborhood,” he used to say until five years ago, when he left the presidency of the association in the hands of José Felipe Rubio.
They allege “discrimination”
Sources from the Canonical Association of Christ of Divine Mercy assured that the request to enter the Board of Brotherhoods is motivated by the “resistance” of the rest of the brotherhoods to give him participation in Holy Week. They speak of “a series of discriminations that we do not have to suffer”, such as the problems to extend the route of the way of the cross, the lack of municipal help (they aspire at least to the transfer of a warehouse for their thrones) and the exclusion of the technical and safety meetings. They do not allude to the distribution of the Call check with the municipal subsidy.
The current president of the Board and, in addition, Californian older brother, Juan Carlos de la Cerra, told LA VERDAD that he will answer the request when the directives of each brotherhood are pronounced and there is a sharing. As soon as they make an official decision, they will communicate it to the Bishopric.
A third throne and an attempt to extend its journey since 2013
The traditional brotherhoods view with suspicion the movements of the Christ of Divine Mercy to magnify a way of the cross that every year has more participants and public. In 2013, they criticized the incorporation of a third throne, that of San Juan, and in 2019 they managed to get the City Council to stop, for security reasons, the extension of its route through the Puerta de Murcia, for which it had permission from the bishop. The Californios are the most critical, since they interpret that the Lord of the Lake tries to subtract prominence from his first parade, starring another Christ of Mercy who comes out when the Stations of the Cross ends.
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