A controversial Holy Week poster in Seville featuring a Christ seen by many believers as “effeminate” or “sexualized” continues to spark reactions in the region, while a mass retaliation has been planned in Malaga for work considered blasphemous.
The mass of retribution, a gesture of recognition that God has been gravely offended, will take place this Thursday at 8:30 am (7:30 am in Lisbon) at the monastery of Madre Mercedarias de Malaga.
The poster announcing the Seville Holy Week 2024 shows the image of a very young resurrected Christ, slightly covered from the waist down, an image in the purest style of the artist Salustiano García, whose depiction of Jesus was inspired by his son Horacio.
For the organization, the poster’s depiction of Christ represents “the bright part of Holy Week” in “a style typical of this prestigious artist.”
But Christ García has drawn criticism among many believers and Church members who consider the poster disrespectful, blasphemous and offensive, in addition to not representing Seville’s Holy Week.
The poster, intended to be distributed throughout the city, sparked controversy on social media, with many internet users as well as the ultra-conservative Catholic Association condemning its “sexualized” nature.
The poster is “a real disgrace and an aberration,” the X Institute for Social Policy (Ipse), an organization that defends “Christian symbols” and is particularly anti-abortion, said on social media.
This criticism was also expressed by the head of the far-right Vox party in Seville, Javier Navarro, who judged as faithful.”
The petition was posted on the Change.org website and had nearly 10,000 signatures as of Monday, calling for the defense of Seville’s traditions and “religious zeal” in the face of the work.
The poster expressed surprise at the attacks, insisting in an interview with the conservative daily ABC that he had written a sympathetic and elegant piece that expressed “deep respect” for believers.
“You have to be sick to see sexuality in my Christ,” said the 52-year-old artist, recalling that Jesus was regularly depicted naked in classical art.
The Socialists in power in Spain defended the poster, denouncing the “homophobic and hateful” nature of the attacks, according to their leader in Andalusia, Juan Espadas, who defended the union of “tradition and modernity” characteristic of the region. , an ancient bastion of the left.
Spain, which decriminalized homosexuality in 1978, three years after the death of dictator Franco, has since become one of the most open countries in the world to the LGBT+ community, allowing gay marriage and adoption to same-sex couples in 2005.
Holy Week processions, commemorating the Passion, death and resurrection of Christ, occupy an important place in Spain, a country where Catholic traditions are very widespread, and especially in Seville, considered the “capital” of these religious parades.