The archbishop asks the brotherhoods of Granada not to compete on heritage spending
José María Gil Tamayo speaks before the plenary of elder brothers of the Real Federación de Hermandades y Cofradías and asks them to focus on faith and formation rather than on new premieres and extraordinary celebrations.
The archbishop of Granada, José María Gil Tamayo, has asked the city's brotherhoods and confraternities not to turn heritage into a competition. He did so on Tuesday, October 20, before the plenary of senior brothers of the Real Federación de Hermandades y Cofradías, where he warned that the race for new premieres and spending can push aside what really matters.
"Don't compete on this. Don't compete on this," he insisted before the heads of the corporations. He gave as an example a Marian coronation held in Andalusia in which, according to his account, "three kilos of gold" were used, and he asked himself: "Where are we going, with the way things are?"
A training plan
Gil Tamayo announced the launch of a Christian formation program aimed at senior brothers and governing boards, with the collaboration of the Vicaría. In his view, governing a brotherhood requires more than knowing the traditions or internal rules: "The little holy picture is no longer enough," he said, and he called for answers to society's everyday problems, especially those related to family and marriage.
The prelate revived Benedict XVI's concept of an "educational emergency" to warn of the insufficient religious formation of many adult Christians. Those who approach a brotherhood out of tradition, emotion or family ties must also find the opportunity to deepen their faith, he said.
Fewer extraordinary ones
Another of his warnings focused on the calendar of services. He called for recovering the meaning of the liturgical year and preventing the multiplication of extraordinary celebrations from diminishing the importance of ordinary ones. "A service has a time and a place," he recalled, and he linked that tendency to society's general spectacularization: "Spectacle wins us over, let's see who gives more."
He also called for "establishing a hierarchy of values" and avoiding confrontations over incidental matters. "The greatness of the Semana Santa of Granada is already there. It already is," he stated, while acknowledging the value of confraternity heritage: "You have a wonderful heritage."
Church and roots
The archbishop placed his recommendations in Granada's Christian history, from the first communities and the Council of Elvira to today's brotherhoods. "We are not people of heritage conservation. It is much more," he said, and stressed that the confraternities are part of a Christian community: "We are the Church, you are the Church."
He praised the roots of Granada's brotherhoods and the sense of belonging they awaken, as well as the role of the brotherhood houses as meeting spaces and the social action they carry out. The speech comes in a year in which the Real Federación continues to celebrate its founding centenary.