Visiting Seville for the Easter Week ( Semana Santa ) is going to force anyone to confront their impressions of the power of the church here, and their influence on ordinary lives.
I worry at seeing masked children being led to the parades by devout looking parents. What kind of impact does all this have on such impressionable minds?
How wonderful to see that when the mask slips, children are still children.
I think it is always difficult to be fair and balanced as an outsider – we just have our fleeting impressions. But I can’t help feeling saddened by these dark churches sheltering anonymous, guilt-ridden people, particularly when they make signs of the cross to wax figures draped in gold..
Fantastic post & photos Nige – short and sharp.
I would add that while many church groups undoubtedly do great work in areas such as education, health etc it is hard for those of us not use to such ‘tradition’ to understand how this can be good for the kids.
That said, the last photo of the kids goofing around shows that kids will always be kids at heart first!
Thanks Rob. Really appreciate your feedback.
The truth is I want to say far more – but I am a visitor and outside of this belief system. We have both travelled extensively and share the same beliefs for the cultures we are visiting, but sometimes you just want to shout that something is fundamentally wrong. Strangely this is the case with more western cultures – I would never dream of expressing such a thought in Asia for example.