Mass blessings of Catholic faithful, markets of intertwined palm branches for the celebration of Palm Sunday and a rock opera performance "Jesus Christ Superstar" in the street they began Holy Week in Bolivia.
One of the most crowded celebrations was held in the eastern Santa Cruz, the largest Bolivian city where there are also a large number of Catholics. in a State declared secular in the Constitution in force since 2009.
Hundreds of people came to the doors of the Metropolitan Cathedral, the main Catholic temple in Santa Cruz, to listen to the mass celebrated by the Archbishop of Santa Cruz, René Leigue.
In his homily, Leigue briefly referred to the protests by urban teachers over various labor demands and asked "let there be a sincere dialogue" so that the conflict does not escalate as it happened last year with the Santa Cruz demand for the timely completion of the population census.
At the end of the Eucharist, the attendees they raised the clasped palms that they carried to receive the blessing of the priests.
FAITH AND TRADITION
A similar panorama was experienced in La Paz, where as every year one of the busiest temples was the Minor Basilica of San Francisco, in the historic center of the city.
People flocked to the masses that were celebrated earlyone after another, in San Francisco previously buying intertwined palms and crucifixes, among other religious effigies alluding to Holy Week that were sold in a market set up in the atrium of the temple.
Popular belief dictates that you should buy palms or bouquets, have them blessed and place them behind the doors at home for protection against evils.
For this reason, some vendors include in their bouquets plants such as rue or rosemary, which are used in traditional Andean medicine, or broom, which is believed to protect homes.
"SUPERSTAR"
The palms evoke the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, an event that was recreated in the Calacoto neighborhood, in the south of La Paz, but in the Broadway style in a version of the famous rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar"composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Tim Rice.
On a small stage set up by the La Paz City Hall in the middle of the avenue, the Broadway Bolivia cast, directed by José Luis Siñani, gave a sample of the staging that will be carried out precisely between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday at the Municipal Theater "Alberto Saavedra Perez".
The show began with a performance of "gethsemane", one of the main pieces of the opera by Siñani, who embodies Jesus, and included songs like "hosanna", "tell us what will happen", "jesus will die" and "everything will be at peace"among other.
The dancers and singers of this cast seek to give "a message of tolerance to faith" with the presentation of the musical, Siñani explained to EFE.
"We all have our faith from any religion, or no religion, or people who do not believe, we have to start tolerating and respecting each other"the actor maintained.
The staging of Broadway Bolivia seeks to get away from the controversy that the musical raised at the time.
"There are some thoughts on one side and on the other, we are neither for nor against anything. We are simply doing this work with the greatest respect to tell a story at Easter of this great character that many people love, who is Jesus."said Siñani.
