Soldiers of cardboard and wooden crucifixes.

The soldiers make a display of juggling raising the dead Christ in the air, while singing "I'm the boyfriend of death". The scene is in a southern city of Spain. I've lived in this city during my youth and I've seen this scene several times, live. How could I have consider this normal so far? I relate it to the bullfights, another barbaric custom about death and blood.

The central theme of this picture is, therefore, death, in two ways, first, the soldiers are scared of death, their "girlfriend" and, secondly, Christ is dead because, although he was inmortal God, he became man to suffer for us. And he died. But, as God is immortal, there was no choice but to be resuscitated. Resurrection came later, for the moment we are carrying the dead body to the grave.

Catholics have a tradition of indulging in morbid death: is the theory of the atonement. A sinister theme, no doubt. The expiatory offerings of the Old Testament itself could not remove sin, but foreshadowed the Christ, the perfect sacrifice provided by God Himself. He took away the sins of the world and provided the basis for the forgiveness and justification of the sinner.


All these bleeding Christs capture the popular imagination. The lifting of  the Christ crammed the streets of Malaga.

Spain: what barbaric rituals!


(with google translate)