Holy Week 2022: the church trusts that a large public will participate in the processions

The large number of people who participated in the Palm Sunday celebration excites the Majorcan church a few days before Easter. It is not for less, the panorama has changed. In the last two years the processions were suspended due to the pandemic and the spirit of celebrating again resurfaced.

“A large public, including many tourists, especially in Palma, followed with interest the passage of the brotherhoods that, with respect and devotion, returned to our streets one of the most traditional images of Holy Week”, says Father Antoni Cañellas, Episcopal Vicar for Consecrated Life and Popular Piety.

Cañellas has no doubt that there will be a lot of participation on the island. “People want to return to normality and the desire to be able to participate again in the Holy Week traditions that for two years it has not been possible to carry out. Surely many people will be present in the processions, both members of the brotherhood and the public”, he adds.

The Holy Week 2022 tours will be shorter and the hours will be reduced to avoid crowds in accordance with a Government decree that establishes the regulations for mass events with more than 300 people. The organization anticipates that more than 10,000 brothers will participate in the celebration throughout the four days.

The public acts of Lent and Holy Week arose from the faithful themselves and local Christian communities in past centuries, and many of the traditions have been maintained since then.

“Each municipality has configured a different way of experiencing these popular manifestations of piety. In some municipalities Via Crucis is carried out, in others “Davallaments”, in others a certain procession or another is presided over by an image of special veneration. In short, each town and city on our island has its own idiosyncrasy. The corresponding association of brotherhoods and the parishes organize the acts jointly. In the towns, perhaps the Majorcan character of Holy Week remains more deeply rooted, with more austere steps, quieter processions and without elements imported from other cultures such as rods, sinless ones, medals”, describes Cañellas.