José Ferrary, announcer for Holy Week in Malaga 2025:

Málaga/The Teatro Cervantes has once again been the stage to highlight the Malaga Holy Week with the proclamation that marks the countdown to the processions. This time, it was conducted with greater sobriety by José Ferrary, dean of the Málaga Cathedral and Judicial Vicar of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Málaga, as well as a professor of Canon Law.

The event began with a concert by the Municipal Band of Málaga which performed the anthem of Spain, the anthem of Andalusia, and three marches: Santo Traslado, Estudiantes, and Soledad del Císter. The presenter was Santiago Souvirón, the announcer of 2018. Both the presenter and the announcer remembered Augusto Pansard and had kind words for the announcer of 2024, who passed away in July last year and who would have been scheduled to present this 2025.

The brotherly love of the fraternities was highlighted in his introduction: “In the fraternities, a light is shown that illuminates the heart of the human being when we announce through the public testimony of our faith that Christ frees us and loves us.”

José Ferrary introduced himself as what he is: “A common Malagueño, a priest among many, a person of faith and in love with his land.” His words became increasingly emotional as he described the Malaga Holy Week, mentioning the fraternities that compose it: Pollinica, Fusionadas, Humildad, Salutación, Humildad y Paciencia, Dolores del Puente, Sangre, Paloma, Agonía, Prendimiento, Estrella, Dulce Nombre, Rocío, Gitanos, Mena, Descendimiento, Mediadora, Piedad, Sentencia, Misericordia, Rescate, Amor, Monte Calvario, Huerto, Viñeros, Crucifixión, Expiración, Salesianos, Salud, Nueva Esperanza, Paso y Esperanza, Santa Cruz, Rico, Soledad de San Pablo, Cautivo, Pasión, Cena, Amargura, Redención, Estudiantes, Sepulcro, Servitas, Resurrección.

Ferrary did not follow the procession order, but intertwined them to highlight the characteristics of Málaga, moving from passion and pain to hope and jubilation. Without a chronological arrangement, the speech navigated in waves of composition with a Malagueño accent and a brotherly heart, calling for unity.

An austere scenography, with only the background of the stage projecting ecclesiastical stained glass windows, one with the Cathedral and another with Christ on the cross, accompanied the announcer positioned in the center behind a lectern. A discreet piano added musical notes to the moment of greatest distress when he recited about Rocío. A wind instrument later joined the piano and the musical silences gave a deep seriousness to the words. Finally, a third stained glass window was illuminated with the Resurrected Lord.

Ferrary also brought to the proclamation the journey of Malaga's Hope to Rome in the year of the Jubilee: “It will be a gift for the Church and for the world. It will mark us and make us proud. We had to go, we had to be there and we will do it. We must all support it and rejoice without divisions. That's the way it is, that's how it will be, that's how we will experience it and remember it... But the Hope, as they want it in Málaga, nowhere else. As we feel it in Málaga, nowhere else. As we see it on Holy Thursday night, never anywhere else. Because Hope is made for Málaga and Málaga for Her (...) It will always be a faithful companion for those who struggle.”

And he returned to the fraternal sentiment: “We fraternities have one heart and one soul. And we cannot explain what we feel because that feeling lacks verbal translation.” Ferrary is a brother of Estudiantes, Mena, Dolores de San Juan, Fusionadas, Piedad, Monte Calvario, Rocío, Descendimiento, Misericordia, and Sepulcro, the last of which he holds the position of counselor. Additionally, he is a brother of the glory corporations of La Victoria and the Royal Brotherhood of Rocío de Málaga, a branch of the Matrix of Almonte.

“Rocío, Mother and Lady, I do not know what you have, or what you give me. I know that with you I am better and that after seeing you or speaking to you, praying to you or looking at you, you point me to Jesus (...) do not forget him and always seek him.”