Last year I very much enjoyed the Good Friday procession in Seville, Spain, with hundreds of thousands tourists from all over. This year for the first time I saw the Good Friday procession of St George’s parish in Qormi.

It is true comparisons are odious, but I cannot refrain from making one between the two processions. By far the Qormi procession was the best in all respects, though not so world famous as Seville.

The organisation was impeccable, but I was very much struck by the devout behaviour of the hundreds of participants. They not only acted their part as prophets, Roman soldiers and likewise. The scouts and the two bands enriched the procession with their music. The procession took us all through the Old and New Testament.

The uniforms of the Roman soldiers were of the very best and each person acted his part very well. The difference lies in the statues. Both are very nice, but perhaps the ones of Seville were larger. The other difference is that Seville processions goes on for long hours through the night.

The Qormi procession, along with several others in Valletta, Mosta,Żebbuġ, Rabat and Gozo are all of very high standard. Just as Spain advertises its Seville procession, Malta should promote these Holy Week processions as part of it religious tourism campaign.

The tourist posters of Malta I see in Italy feature mostly sun and sea, with occasional pictures of artistic and historic places. These processions are part of Malta’s heritage and as such they can be an attraction to many people from abroad who do not see such religious manifestation in their countries.

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