Starting this Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Seville (Spain) will host the Second International Congress of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods, which will bring together nearly 2,000 participants from various countries.
Although 60% of the congressmen belong to the Archbishopric of Seville, there is no shortage of those who come from other Spanish dioceses and Latin American countries, as well as Italians, Belgians, Dutch, Germans, Swiss, Portuguese or Americans.
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In addition, as papal legate, Mons. Edgar Parra, substitute of the Vatican Secretariat of State, attends.
Pope Francis wanted to join the celebration of the congress with a message in which he is convinced that “the popular piety of our time constitutes a very effective evangelizing force for men and women, and that it transmits a thirst for God that only the poor and simple can know. “It makes one capable of generosity and sacrifice, even heroism, when it comes to manifesting faith.”
In the letter, in which Pope Francis establishes Mons. Parra as pontifical legate for the occasion, he asks that “Blessed Mary, the Virgin Macarena, dispensing her maternal charity, igniting the popular piety of the faithful by the fire of the love of the Holy Spirit, engender a path of hope and, as we have just told you, an immune system, in the face of the many malicious dangers for the Church.”
The congress will also have the presence of Mons. Salvatore Fisichella, prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, who will give a presentation under the title The evangelizing mission, soul of the Brotherhoods.
For his part, Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, will present a reflection on The brotherhoods: house and school of Christian life, communion and synodality.
Professor Dario Vital, from the Pontifical Gregorian University, will speak on The insertion of popular piety in the local Churchwhile Cardinal Marcello Semeraro will focus his contribution on the question of Prayer and liturgy in the proposal for sanctification of the Brotherhoods.
Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendoza, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, has planned a presentation entitled The importance of training to give reason for hope.
The academic program of the congress is complemented by a wide variety of cultural proposalswith numerous exhibitions on various aspects of popular piety.
In addition, an extraordinary closing procession has been arranged, lasting more than 12 hours, which will begin at 4:20 p.m. (local time) next Friday and which “will feature a list of devotions that show piety.” popular in the Archdiocese of Seville from diverse sensitivities, traditions and ways of understanding these manifestations of faith”, details the organization of the congress.
Four images from the city of Seville will participate in it (Gran Poder, Cachorro, Esperanza Macarena and Esperanza de Triana), three from the rest of the diocese (Consolación de Utrera, Valme de Dos Hermanas and Setefilla de Lora del Río), along with the patron saint of Seville and its Archdiocese, the Virgin of the Kings.
Nicholas de Cardenas
Born in 1980, I am a Spanish husband and father and journalist with more than 20 years of experience in print and digital media, specializing in sociopolitical and religious information. I have worked for more than 10 years in defense of human rights and have accreditations in Journalism and Comprehensive Communication. Since July 2022, I have been a correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in Spain, covering international events of the Catholic Church.