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Across Latin America, Semana Santa is back — en persona

 The Good Friday procession in Antigua, Guatemala
Iglesia de la Merced
The Good Friday procession in Antigua, Guatemala

For the past two years, the pandemic shut down Latin America's renowned Holy Week, or pre-Easter processions. This year they're back across the region.

Latin America is known the world over for its rich Semana Santa, or Christian Holy Week events in the days leading up to Easter. For two years the COVID-19 pandemic shut them down — but this year they’re back, adding to feelings of post-pandemic hope across the region.

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One big return is the Good Friday procession, the re-enactment of the Biblical scene of Jesus carrying his cross to his crucifixion, in Antigua, Guatemala.

It's among the most popular Semana Santa observances in Latin America; and, after the pandemic hiatus, it will take place in person on Friday in all its somber splendor. That includes hundreds of purple-robed Roman Catholics called cucuruchos who carry a massive float of Jesus and his cross — and the thousands of visitors the procession draws each year.

Luis Fernando Vásquez heads the brotherhood of La Merced Catholic Church in Antigua.

“To have this back means everything because it’s so very rooted in who we are,” Luis Fernando Vásquez, who heads the brotherhood of the La Merced Catholic Church in Antigua, told WLRN.

Semana Santa gatherings like Antigua’s are returning this year all over Latin America — from the famous Passion Play in Iztapalapa, Mexico, to the Señor de los Temblores, or Lord of the Earthquakes procession in Cusco, Peru.

Vásquez says for the region’s Christians it means more than having an in-person Easter again.

“For many of them it means the pandemic is finally over,” he said. "That's the hope."

That may or may not be true. But then, Easter is a season of hope.

Tim Padgett is the Americas Editor for WLRN, covering Latin America, the Caribbean and their key relationship with South Florida. Contact Tim at tpadgett@wlrnnews.org
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