The Bishop of Málaga, José Antonio Satué, has signed the decree for the canonical coronation of the Virgen de los Desamparados of Vélez-Málaga on 21 October 2028. This is the first coronation he has authorised since arriving in the diocese a year ago.
The Diocese of Málaga has given the green light to the canonical coronation of the Virgen de los Desamparados, the Marian titular of the Pontifical and Very Ancient Franciscan Brotherhood of Our Father Jesus Praying in the Garden. The decree bears the signature of Bishop José Antonio Satué and is dated 12 September, the feast of the Sweet Name of Mary, as reported by Diario Sur.
The brotherhood announced the news this Saturday, the same day that the image of Saint Francis of Assisi was taken out in an extraordinary procession from the parish of San Antonio de Padua to the Mercado de San Francisco, to commemorate the eighth centenary of the saint's passing. The document was delivered on Friday to the spiritual director of the corporation, Fray Salvador Jiménez Durán, and to the elder brother, Juan A. Iranzo Bermúdez, by the judicial vicar of the Diocese, Rafael Navarro, and the delegate for Legal Affairs of Brotherhoods and Cofradías, José Carlos Moreno Luque.
The celebration will take place on Saturday 21 October 2028. The brotherhood requested the initiation of the file on 29 July 2020, under the episcopate of Jesús Catalá, so it has taken six years until the authorisation was granted. This is the first canonical coronation granted by Satué since he took possession of the diocese a year ago.
The decree emphasises the long-standing devotion in the city: "The devotion to Our Lady of the Desamparados has been established in the town of Vélez-Málaga since the 16th century," and adds that it has been "promoted and spread for centuries, continuing with renewed strength today".
The statue is anonymous and some authors date it to the late 15th century. Before the Napoleonic invasion, it was known as the Conception, linked to the conquest of the city by the Catholic Monarchs, and is venerated in the church of San Francisco, of the Royal Convent of Santiago, where the Franciscans have resided in Vélez-Málaga since 1498. It processes every Holy Wednesday on a silver throne from the workshops of Juan Angulo de Lucena, with imagery by Israel Cornejo, a canopy embroidered in gold, silver, and silk thread on blue velvet by Antonio Ruiz Carmona, under the design of Javier Díaz Chicano, and an oil painting by Manuel Hijano for the canopy's ceiling.
The diocese recalls in the decree that the Church has affirmed "the legitimacy of the worship given to the images of Christ, His Mother, and the saints," and that the veneration of the Virgin "often manifests itself by adorning her head with a royal crown." The text also cites the coronation ritual: "Holy Virgin Mary is rightly regarded and invoked as queen, as she is the Mother of the Son of God, King of the Universe, an august collaborator of the Redeemer, a perfect disciple of Christ, and a supereminent member of the Church."
With this concession, the Virgen de los Desamparados becomes the third image to be canonically crowned in Vélez-Málaga. The other two are the Virgen de los Remedios, patroness and perpetual mayor of the city, crowned in 2002, and the Virgen de las Angustias, which received the rite on 14 September 2014.
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