José Ignacio Sellers delivered the proclamation at the stroke of nine o’clock at night. /
The Union of Brotherhoods recognizes the trajectory of Agustín Margallo, David Remedios and Juan José Castela
José Ignacio Sellers Bermejo (Cáceres, 1965) had been keeping the Holy Week proclamation in his drawer for a little over two years. The suspension of the 2020 and 2021 editions due to the pandemic prevented this “base brother” – this is how he likes to define himself – from taking the stage of the Gran Teatro to welcome the Cáceres Passion, a festival of international tourist interest.
That wait ended this Thursday. Sellers, who works as an official of the body of technical engineers of the General Directorate of Roads of the Ministry of Development and is a member of four brotherhoods, finally dusted off his text and, to the surprise of the audience, broke the mold. His was not a conventional proclamation. He recreated, in a narrative way and with the help of audiovisual material, the last hours of the life of Jesus Christ. He made Cáceres a Jerusalem of the 21st century and the adarves, the Via Dolorosa, the path that Jesus traveled with the cross on his back.
As if in a dream, the town crier took a walk through different points of the Monumental City to locate Mount Calvary in San Mateo, the place where, according to the Gospels, Jesus Christ was crucified. “Christ has chosen to die in Cáceres,” he said.
Beyond the particular way of the cross that structured the speech, Sellers remembered the deceased brothers, the charitable work of the brotherhoods, had a recognition for the music of Holy Week (from the saeteros to the bands) and included a dose of self-criticism to draw attention to aspects such as the lack of respect involved in not keeping the appropriate silence in the parades. He struck a chord when talking about mothers and those who are no longer here.
From left to right, Agustín Margallo, Juan José Castela and David Remedios, members of the year. /
«Just as there is the Holy Week of music, that of the mother or that of dedication and charity, there is also the Holy Week of the absent brothers, because in my opinion it is not possible to understand what we now feel for the Week Santa without taking into account what they were and what they meant in our brotherly life».
The bishop’s first proclamation
The event gathered 450 people. Among the attendees was the new bishop of Coria-Cáceres, Jesús Pulido, who presided over the proclamation of Holy Week in Cáceres for the first time. The event was led by Lorena Jorna, head of communication for the Diocese of Coria-Cáceres, and included speeches by the mayor, Luis Salaya, and Santos Benítez, president of the Union of Brotherhoods. The mayor thanked the brotherhoods for their efforts and Benítez had words of remembrance for the war in Ukraine. Antonio Luis Suárez was at the piano and Jesús Sellers was in charge of introducing the town crier, his brother.
This meeting, which officially marks the countdown to the start of the first processions (just a week to go), also serves each season to recognize the work of some outstanding brotherhoods, who are named brotherhood of the year.
Like Sellers’ proclamation, these badges had also been waiting two years to reach their recipients. The recognized proper names have been Agustín Margallo, for his years of dedication to the brotherhood of Amparo; David Remedios, secretary of the brotherhood of the Nazarene and head of the Virgen de la Misericordia passage; and Juan José Castela, an active brother who immortalizes with his camera the most outstanding moments of the Cáceres Passion.
The banners of the 17 brotherhoods of Cáceres hang from the balcony of the Town Hall. /
The banners of the 17 brotherhoods already shine on the balcony of the City Hall
Cáceres has officially dressed for Holy Week. Since yesterday, coinciding with the date of the proclamation that marks the countdown to the start of the festival, the facade of the City Hall has been displaying, as in pre-pandemic years, the banners of the brotherhoods of Cáceres, including that of the brotherhood of Jesús Despojado, which makes its debut this year.
The location of these insignia has been surprising after the Consistory announced last week that they would be installed in the Forum of the Balbos. But, finally, it has not been like that. The reason, according to the explanation given by the City Council, must be sought in the “proximity” of the works of the third phase of recovery of the wall, which will affect precisely the section of the Torre de la Yerba. The banners will remain on the main balcony of the Town Hall until the end of Holy Week. The banners are placed in order of seniority of the brotherhoods.
The mayor, Luis Salaya, held a meeting on Wednesday with the Union of Penitential Brotherhoods of Cáceres. During the meeting, the possibility of increasing the annual aid that the Consistory allocates to the brotherhoods was discussed, according to Santos Benítez, president of the group. The current aid amounts to 28,000 euros to be distributed among 16 brotherhoods. The Holy Supper receives its own money.
www.hoy.es
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.