In Honor of Genarín
Despite wide-spread agnosticism and antagonism towards the Church and its teachings, Spain has the Church interwoven into its culture, and Holy Week is an example of it. Every city and town has its processions. Some cities have a few every day, others have one only on Good Friday, but you can join a procession anywhere. All of them have a religious figure carried through the streets, usually one of Jesus with the cross, and another of his mother Mary. All of them are sanctioned by the Church except one. That one was even outlawed in 1957 because more people joined it than the official one. That procession takes place in the old town of León, and is known as the procession of Genarín. Genarín was christened Genaro Blanco y Blanco sometime in the latter half of the nineteenth century. His surnames indicate that he was an abandoned baby. At that time, women who could not bring up a child for whatever reason would leave the unwanted child at the door to the cathedral where the image...