Barcelona holds an institutional ceremony to commemorate the Reformation
The Mayoress of the city, Ada Colau, said: “This is an act of justice with Protestantism and with the city, which cannot deny that part of itself”.
Protestante Digital · BARCELONA · 31 MAY 2018 · 16:44 CET
The Barcelona City Council has commemorated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with a special event.
The ceremony was held in the Hall of Cent, one of the most emblematic places of the Town Hall. It was attended by the Mayoress of the city, Ada Colau and the deputy Mayor, Jaume Asens.
The President and the Secretary General of the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEREDE) attended the event, as well as the secretary of the Evangelical Council of Catalonia, and the General Director of Religious Affairs of Catalonia, Enric Vendrell.
Among the interventions, there were two academic talks. One on ‘The historical importance of Protestantism in the city’, by the Doctor in Contemporary History of the University of Barcelona, Federico Vázquez; and another about ‘The legacy of Protestantism today: Evangelical Christianity in Barcelona’, by the director of the Research Group in Sociology of Religion and professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Mar Griera.
There were also several musical performances with different popular evangelical songs throughout the event.
“A SOLEMN EVENT”
“This is a very solemn event because of the importance that Protestantism has had and has in our city. An act of justice with Protestantism and with the city, which cannot deny that part of itself”, Mayoress of Barcelona Ada Colau said.
“The Reformation not only changed the Church but also the intellectual and political foundations, of Europe first, and then of the rest of the world”, she added.
According to Colau, the Protestant Reformation “was an act of freedom against obscurantism, an act of democracy against authoritarianism, and an act of humanism that ended the feudal period, starting modernity”.
In her turn, sociologist Mar Griera pointed out that “Barcelona also drags debts. The city has not always known how to recognise diversity and give it the visibility it deserves. The debt is especially noticeable with the Protestants”,
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