The Cachorro and the Esperanza will be on the streets of Rome for about six and a half hours on Saturday, May 17, as part of the Grand Procession planned in the framework of the Jubilee decreed by the Vatican. The Expiración Crucifix from the brotherhood of Seville, located on Castilla Street, and the Virgen de la Esperanza from Malaga will participate. The processions are set to start at 14:00, with the Grand Procession beginning half an hour later.
Spectators can position themselves from the end of Via Claudia, as the space before that will be reserved for organizing processions. A second procession with banners and emblems from brotherhoods around the Catholic world will start from the Caracalla Baths, as detailed by the organization.
Despite the challenges posed by the upcoming election of a new Pontiff – the first round of voting in the Cardinal Conclave is currently taking place – the images will be available for worship at St. Peter’s Basilica from Wednesday, May 14, to Friday, May 16.
After approval from the Rome City Council and the Dicastery for Evangelization, the Jubilee processions of the Brotherhoods will start three hours earlier, at 14:00 in the afternoon for the first part, and approximately 30 minutes later for the Grand Procession led by the Holy Christ of Expiration and Most Holy Mary of Hope.
There are no changes to the route approved by ecclesiastical and civil authorities in March: Piazza Celimontana, Via Claudia, Piazza del Colosseo, Via Celio Vibenna, Via di San Gregorio, Piazza di Porta Capena, Viale Aventino, Via del Circo Massimo, Via dell’Ara Massima di Ercole, Via dei Cerchi, Via di San Gregorio, Via Celio Vibenna, Piazza del Colosseo, Via Claudia, and Piazza Celimontana.
The 3.75-kilometer route is expected to take about six and a half hours, with the head of the procession, carrying the Patriarchal Cross of the Sacramental Brotherhood of Mafra (Portugal), returning to Piazza Celimontana around 20:30, while the Virgin of Hope will reach this point around 22:00.
Authorities will set up a grandstand halfway through the route, located on Via del Circo Massimo, near the Giuseppe Mazzini monument. The head of the procession should reach this point by 17:00.
PRESENCE IN ST. PETER’S BASILICA
Despite the organizational and security challenges posed by the overlap of the Brotherhoods’ Jubilee with the process of electing a new Supreme Pontiff for the Church, with its corresponding celebrations and rites, «thanks to the generosity of the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Monsignor Mauro Maria Gambetti, and the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Monsignor Rino Fisichella,» the presence of the images of the Christ of the Cachorro and the Virgin of Hope has been authorized in the temple three days before the procession.
ORDER OF PROCESSIONS
The first procession will include the Brotherhood of the Most Holy Sacrament of Mafra, Portugal, leading with its Patriarchal Cross and 18th-century Crucifix. This will be followed by the Vatican Archconfraternity of St. Anne of the Vatican Palafrenieri, with a painting of St. Anne with the Virgin (Arturo Viligiardi, 1927); and the Brotherhood of the Sweet Name of Jesus Nazarene, from León, with a 17th-century sculpture.
Next, the Ligurian Priory of Brotherhoods from Genoa, Italy, will be represented by two vertically carried crucifixes from the 18th century; and the Archconfraternity of La Sanch from Perpignan, France, with the crucifix ‘Le Devot Christ’ (13th-14th centuries); and the Brotherhood of Maria Addolorata from Enna, Italy, with the Virgin of Sorrows (Luigi Felice, 18th century).
GRAND PROCESSION
The Grand Procession will include the two Andalusian brotherhoods mentioned: the Pontifical, Royal and Illustrious Brotherhood and Confraternity of Nazarenes of the Most Holy Christ of the Expiration and Our Mother and Lady of Patronage in her Pain and Glory, with the Christ of the Expiration, a masterpiece by Francisco Antonio Gijón (1684); and the Pontifical and Royal Archconfraternity of the Sweet Name of Jesus Nazarene of the Passage and Most Holy Mary of Hope of Malaga, with its titular figure from the 17th century.
Overall, a procession of 1,250 meters in length will be formed, with a total passage time of one and a half hours, of which 800 meters will be occupied by the processions of the two Andalusian brotherhoods, with a passage time of one hour.
SECOND PROCESSION
Simultaneously, other brotherhoods, fraternities, and confraternities from the Catholic world are called to participate with their banners and processional crosses in a second procession that will also start on Saturday, May 17, at 14:00, from Largo Cavalieri di Colombo, near the Caracalla Baths.
They will head to the interior of the Circus Maximus, where they will gather to receive the images from the main procession, following this itinerary: Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Piazza di Porta Capena, Viale Aventino, Via del Circo Massimo, and Via dell’Ara Maxima di Ercole.