Mexico, – The actors of the 176th representation of the Passion of Christ in the city hall of Iztapalapa, east of Mexico City, delivered a letter on Thursday to the Mexican government to request that this tradition be recognized as the intangible cultural heritage of the nation. .
This application is a prior step to apply to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to declare it a World Heritage Site.
This tradition started in 1843 after the then town of Iztapalapa suffered an outbreak of anger that decimated the population, mostly indigenous, and miraculously disappeared after the veneration of the inhabitants to images of Christ in several hermitages of the place.
On this day, Jesús, María and Poncio Pilatos, represented by José Antonio Reyes, Darinka Pineda and Alfonso Ramírez, respectively arrived at the National Palace in the Historic Center of Mexico City.
The actors appeared before the head of the Ministry of Culture of Mexico, Alejandra Frausto, to request that the Federal Government “promote the recognition of this religious festival” that has been held for 176 years on the days corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus during the Holy Week.
Frausto said that the request of the community of Iztapalapa to promote the cultural recognition of this holiday that in recent years has attracted more than 2 million spectators will be met.
“The intangible cultural heritage, the living cultural heritage, one of its most important factors are its bearers, those who live it, are those who recreate it and imagine it,” said the federal official.
The actors were accompanied by the mayor of Iztapalapa, Clara Brugada, who asked Frausto that the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, initiate the corresponding procedure before Unesco to achieve the recognition of this tradition characteristic of the cultural identity of the City from Mexico.
“It is the largest mass theater in the world, with the participation of more than 12,000 actors from the community itself, from the neighborhoods of Iztapalapa,” said Brugada.
If the procedures of the application proceed smoothly, Unesco’s recognition could be granted in less than two years. (EFE).
