Romana

In February, March, and May, relics of St. Josemaría were enthroned in the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Valladolid, in the Church of the Good Shepherd and St. John of the Cross in Seville, and in the Church of Santa María del Saladillo in Algeciras.

In Valladolid and Seville, the initiative came from local brotherhoods: the brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows and the brotherhood of Padre Pio, respectively. The parish priest, Fr. Santiago César González Alba, was also directly involved in the request for a relic (ex sanguine) for the church in Seville, located in a working-class neighborhood in the eastern part of the city.

The new relic enthroned in Algeciras, also in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious neighborhood that faces many challenges (the unemployment rate is 60%), was the initiative of the parish priest, Miguel Ángel Ventura. He has set out to revitalize the faith of his parishioners and the life of the neighborhood with processions, formation meetings, apostolic groups, festivals, raffles, charity festivals, etc. He has also tried to foster devotion to the saints, including St. Josemaría, of whom not only a relic but also a painting has been placed for the faithful’s veneration. The parish priest, who is originally from Malaga, studied at El Romeral, a school where pastoral care is entrusted to priests of Opus Dei. He wanted to show his gratitude in some way for the help he received from those priests during that time.