Nazarene procession in Caracas will be guarded by more than 400 security officials

Published at: 15/04/2025 05:23 PM

The Basilica Santa Tere sa, home of the Nazarene of Saint Paul, is now ready for the procession of this Holy Wednesday, which will mark the closing of the Jubilee for the 350th anniversary of the sacred image.

Priest Armelím De Sousa, vicar general and rector parish priest, stressed that the celebration will include 12 masses, the first beginning at midnight and the last culminating with a central Eucharist in Diego Ibarra Square, presided over by Archbishop Raúl Biord, for this activity, more than 400 security officials will be deployed.

This year, the procession will have a modified route: it will start from the corner of San Pablo, it will move along Baralt Avenue to the Capitol, where the Nazarene will meet the Virgin of Solitude, from the Temple of San Francisco, which celebrates 450 years. Then, you will continue through O'Leary Square before returning to the basilica.

As is tradition, the image will be adorned with orchids donated by the faithful, which are received until Tuesday for installation on the main altar. “These flowers symbolize the people's offering in Lent,” De Sousa explained, adding that the surplus will go to other chapels in the archdiocese.

For his part, the person in charge of logistics, Dorian González, explained that 440 security officials, including the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB); the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) and the Caracas Police, Civil Protection and Fire Department, and 130 brigade members will guarantee order. The tickets will be for Santa Teresa and Santa Ana.

“We already have the device completely, we are taking all the areas adjacent to the Basilica. We entered Tuesday starting at 2 at night through the area at the entrance of Santa Teresa, the corner of Cipreses and the corner of Santa Teresa, these are the entrances. And at the end of the entrance to Santa Ana, the area around the corner of Las Palmas will be enabled to access the Basilica,” he said.

Sousa also gave a series of recommendations to the faithful, such as “to come well hydrated, really well hydrated because it is necessary, fed, young children the brigade team will always be giving announcements at the door, young children or disabled people will always be placed near the exit doors for any emergency there is, fresh clothes. They can't bring candles.”

“The people who bring candles, the parishioners who bring candles, at the entrances there will be a team collecting those candles and they will be given a stamp. Those candles that are going to be collected that day, for safety measures, are going to be delivered on Saturday for what is the Easter trio. So, those are the current recommendations that I can give,” he said.

The basilica will remain open day and night to receive devotees, with masses every hour and a half.

The priest invited us to live this experience as an encounter with “the love of Christ, who burdens our anguish to give us full life”.

The procession culminates a year of pilgrimage from the Nazarene through 11 Jubilee temples, where he has carried his message of faith throughout Caracas. “It's a heritage that unites us as Venezuelans,” concluded De Sousa.

Mazo News Team