Holier than thou...

Holy Week, which culminates with the celebration of Easter, is a very important period in the Christian calendar with the main focus being the suffering of Christ prior to his crucifixion.

In the Maltese islands processions, pageantry, exhibitions and religious memorabilia detailing the passion and death of Christ abound but an interesting fact is that the same happens on another island which lies quite some distance away from the central Mediterranean.

In fact the Christian festival of Easter is held in very high regard on the island of Tenerife which is the largest and most populous of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, about 60 miles northwest of Morocco. The archipelago is part of Spain, and as such Tenerife is largely Roman Catholic even if the practice of other religions and denominations has increasingly expanded on the island due to tourism and immigration.The religious devotion in Tenerife is showcased with eight days of processions by different brotherhoods, the scene of impressive examples of faith and religious zeal. Processions and different religious services are found in all the villages and towns but the main celebrations take place in La Laguna where the Semana Santa processions are held.

Good Friday is the most popular when two processions proceed from the main church. The first is called Procesion Magna (Holy Burial Procession) and it takes place at about five in the afternoon, while the second procession, Procesion del Silencio (Silent procession) proceeds at about nine in the evening.

In a quasi bizarre similitude to Malta, Holy week in La Laguna is a passionate and sombre affair that has great religious, historical and artistic value. It features Masses, religious ceremonies and processions involving guilds, fraternities and holy brotherhoods, some of them centuries old. So as Good Friday is celebrated tomorrow, it is noteworthy to remember that hundreds of kilometres away another population of islanders will be going through with their own poignant processions involving hooded fraternities that parade silently through mediaeval streets, some even carrying full sized wooden crosses on their shoulders and chains around their ankles.And today we say that we live in a small world and talk of globalisation!