It remains an important commemoration in recent history and now comes the time to delve deeper into the heritage. Rafael Francisco Moreno (Córdoba, 1989) was re-elected elder brother of the brotherhood of penalties in January last year, which is why he is almost halfway through his second term.
-Based on what you have done so far in this position, what are you most proud of?
-The first mandate was very marked by the years of pandemic and, above all, the most important was the to be able to survivelet’s say. In the brotherhood without means of having an income, with the brothers far from the brotherhood, as in the society of that time, it was a source of pride to be able to go through this difficult period with a solvent brotherhood, with its accounts up to date.
-And a challenge that you wish to take on before the end of the mandate?
-If all goes well and the Lord wants it, it will surely be possible during my last year in office brand new rear of the passage of the pallium of María Santísima de la Concepción. We are already preparing everything. The project was presented and approved by the council of brothers, the brothers will be informed soon of its completion. This was the main objective since we left, the two years of stopping the pandemic had a big impact on us. And last year, at the time of our entry, we had the 50th anniversary events, which precisely on September 23 marked one year of the extraordinary exit that we made. We found ourselves at this anniversary that should not be missed under any circumstances, and the brotherhood had to dedicate itself to these events, and now it is time to be able to carry out the back passage of the canopy.
-Another objective?
-We are also continuing the project of domestic diet so that this will be revealed in the coming year and we may get a own premises to be able to save the step. Currently, the brotherhood does not have its own premises because the brotherhood house is a parish house.
-And in terms of badges, is there any progress?
-Study is underway on modifying horn flags and fabrics as our courtship heritage has stagnated. These years we are trying to achieve two new flags and present a project of embroidered horn fabrics. We currently have those that the Brotherhood released early in the morning. There are many open fronts, but we will try to reach as many as possible.
The elder brother, in front of the dais with the Virgin of the Abandoned and Saint John, in the extraordinary of last year
-In the immediate future, are there any restorations planned for the images? Are they accurate?
-The image of the Virgen de los Desamparados, as well as that of San Juan and the Concepción, are practically current images, compared to the antiquity of Christ. every year an imagination arrives Let’s see how they are and we know that the first three are well structured, exactly the same as Christ. The only thing is that the image of Christ has the bitumen of Judea which was given in the 80s restorations. It was given to him by Peláez del Espino, who restored the Great Power, Anguish and many images. In subsequent restores, these images were deleted, but we did not do so because they were not subsequently restored. And the bitumen has turned and is the darkness of Christ; We must put an end to the myth that this color is due to the burning of Santiago, because Christ emerged white. The complexity we have in this case is that the image of Christ does not belong to the fraternity, but to the Bishopric. The first thing we must have when considering a restoration is their consent.
-In terms of social work, what stands out?
-We focus on the former residence of Regina, the current one in the industrial zone of Guadalquivir. We continue at Christmas by taking them to a meal we are giving in Santiago, bringing them closer to the images. We usually set up a nursery there, we collaborate with them with the May Cross. At Christmas, the brotherhood’s youth group and lollipop group prepare Christmas for themselves. And we continue our collaboration with the Food bankcollecting food and supporting the parish Cáritas. The Santiago neighborhood is very humble and everyone who needs something has the brotherhood and the parish.
Evolution
“Every year, new brothers come to wear the tunic, and it’s also very pleasant. Not everything is costal and gangs in the brotherhoods”
-The young people, with the summer departure from Pasito Chico, are very involved in the daily life of the brotherhood, aren’t they?
-We can’t complain. The young people are very, very, very dedicated to the brotherhood. Every Friday or Saturday, the young people are in the brotherhood house, they meet there and, thank God, they are very dedicated and want to learn.
-On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Desamparados, over time, what has marked you as an older brother?
-At that time, we were not aware of what we were going through with the preparations and the stress of daily work. It was a very unusual September because we hardly stopped. When we finished Pasito Chico in June, we were already engaged in preparing for the fiftieth anniversary events. Now, with time and peace of mind, I can keep many things, with many of the experiences he told us. the elderly of the brotherhood, with the day of the main function, when the bishop came. I still have the faces of the brothers and non-brothers when they saw the Virgin again under the canopy with Saint John. Those fifteen days that we were able to experience left a great taste in the mouths of all the people of the brotherhood, they are very proud, they were truly extraordinary.
-On Palm Sunday 2025, they will have the Gypsy fanfare to accompany Christ, what expectations do you have?
-Good and quite high. It was the group itself that contacted us. A good agreement was reached by both parties. And we hope that the the relationship is lasting. We are not a brotherhood that likes to change groups every year or two, we tend to put up with them for a long time. I give examples: María Inmaculada de Castilleja de la Cuesta spent twenty years. The Lion’s Dinner, ten years old. And with Aguilar, six years old. We like it keep over time, especially to take care of the musical heritage that the brotherhood possesses. Currently, the musical group offers nine or ten marches dedicated to Christ and the Virgin. If you continually change groups, you are not taking care of this heritage and we hope that the Gitanos group can have all the musical heritage of the brotherhood.
Equipment
“We are trying to make two new embroidered horn flags and fabrics”
-The first day leaves, do you expect any changes?
-Since Palm Sunday 1999, the Brotherhood of Sorrows has been the first. We were penultimate and the brotherhood decided to take the plunge to be able to go to the Cathedral of the Holy Church during the official race in the Plaza de las Tendillas and since 1999 The brotherhood of Las Penas was the only one that remained on Palm Sunday always going to the Cathedral of the Holy Church and entering inside, and varying or changing the schedule and form, this not It’s more in our spirit nor in our capacity, taking into account the characteristics of the brotherhood in the street. We go out into the street with 120 slaveswe take a lot of young children. The 15-16 year olds ask us to be covered and we cannot afford to be in the street on Palm Sunday, neither at midday nor at one in the morning. And Monday is a working day.
Rafael Francisco Moreno, during the extraordinary procession of September 2023
-What is the number of brothers and sisters?
-We are about a thousand brothers. More than fifty percent of the brothers of the brotherhood go out in procession. For the last Palm Sunday, they published 650 construction site tickets and in recent years we are still constantly evolving. Every year we enlarge the procession, more and more new brothers come who want to wear the tunic and that too is nice. In brotherhoods, not everything is ribs and gangs.
-The month of October is coming, and there is a meeting in the streets, right?
-The next event we are hosting will be on October 20th. pray the rosarywhat we do every year with a title, alternating. Last year Concepción was released and this year it is with Desamparados, which travels the streets of the Santiago parish.
