Jubilee of Confraternities - official artwork presented to the Dicastery

The Jubilee of Confraternities will have its own official artwork. The painting was donated to the Dicastery for Evangelization by the Andalusian sponsors of the planned ‘Great Procession of Sacred Images’. The procession through the streets of the city of Rome, will be held on May 17, 2025, during the Jubilee of Confraternities, which will run from May 16 to 18. The Spanish artist, Raùl Berzosa, has tried to include in his painting all the sacred images which will be carried in procession in May.

The aim of the work is to highlight the recognition by the Church of the transcendental role of the various Confraternities in the modern world, the ever-growing importance of popular piety, and the importance of public processions to the work of evangelization.

The work was created by Berzosa, a painter from Malaga, using oil on canvas, and measures 100 x 162 cm. The center of the composition is occupied by the figure of Saint Peter - a representation of the famous bronze sculpture, which is venerated inside St Peter’s Basilica, with the marble throne, and has great evocative power due to the dark tones of the bronze. Behind it, is seen a circle with images of those involved of the Jubilee.

The main images depicted in the painting come from Spain and they will be carried in the Great Procession through Rome in 2025. They are are María Santísima de la Esperanza from Malaga on the left and the Santísimo Cristo de la Expiración from Seville on the right. Below, other images are represented: from Spain, Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno of León, from Italy, the Madonna Addolorata of Enna, the Christ of the Ligurian Crucifix and the image of Sant'Anna de' Parafrenieri. From France, the Christ of the Crucifix le Dévot from Perpignan and from Portugal can be seen the Santissimo Sacramento of Mafra. The central circle is surmounted by the dome of St. Peter, a powerful symbol of the Catholic Church, and on the sides by Bernini's colonnade, symbolic of the Church’s embrace of the world’s confraternities.

Around the painting a series of lines (which act as a frame) make symbolic reference to the Holy Door, and the image of the Holy Spirit, taken from the stained-glass window above the Chair of St. Peter. The relationship between the Holy Spirit and Hope was reaffirmed by Pope Francis when, during the General Audience of May 31, 2017, he said that the Holy Spirit breathes and moves the Church and walks with her. He pointed out that Scripture compares hope to an anchor, which secures the ship in the midst of the stormy waves, but it can also be compared to a sail that gathers that wind of the Spirit to push our ship forward.

In the lower part of the painting there are two important elements: on the left the Colosseum, the place from which the great procession in May will begin, and on the right the Holy Door of St. Peter’s in the Vatican. For this reason, the color orange, which recalls the flames emanating from the Holy Spirit, and the green of Hope envelop the patrons of the different confraternities. This recalls the Pope’s letter in which he entrusted to Archbishop Rino Fisichella the organization of the Jubilee: "We must keep alive the flame of hope that has been given to us," said the Pope on that occasion in reference to the Jubilee theme, "Pilgrims of Hope".

The lower part of the image is dominated by light tones, in contrast with the upper part which is more ochre, gray and greenish., On the white background of the lower part the text "Jubilee of Confraternities" appears. Finally, the center of the lower part is occupied by the coat of arms of Pope Francis next to the anchor of Hope.

It is still possible to register for the Jubilee of the Confraternities at this link:  https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en/pellegrinaggio/calendario-giubileo/GrandiEventi/Giubileo-delle-Confraternite.html