Spain: Archbishop calls for unity following outcry over botched restoration of Marian statue

(OSV News) -- Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses of Seville urged unity among Catholics upset over the recent restoration of a 17th-century statue of the Virgin Mary known as the Virgin of La Macarena, or Our Lady of Hope of Macarena.

Many devotees of the famed María Santísima de la Esperanza Macarena (Mary Most Holy of Hope Macarena) expressed outrage after its June 20 unveiling. The newly restored Marian statue, an image that depicts the sorrowful Virgin Mary, featured longer eyelashes that many complained altered Mary's expression from sorrow to consternation.

Archbishop Saiz Meneses tweeted, citing English poet Alexander Pope, that "to err is human, to forgive divine, to rectify is of the wise."

"Mary Most Holy of Hope Macarena wants us united, as brothers and sisters, as her children, looking to the future, walking in truth and goodness," he wrote on his X account.

The statue's once flushed red face also appeared noticeably pale, further upsetting faithful who visited Seville's Basilica of the Macarena to see the restoration firsthand. While changes were immediately made June 21 after the initial outcry, some devotees believed the damage was beyond repair.

"This is not my Virgin. She looks a little more like the one that was here a week ago, and certainly nothing like the one they put up this Saturday, but she's still not my Macarena; her expression is different. They had no right to do what was done," one devotee told the Spanish newspaper El País.

According to El País, a team from the University of Seville carried out the restoration over four days in the second week of June. The university had stated the statue was in good condition and only required maintenance, not extensive work.

However, one expert told the newspaper that the alterations to the statue's face went beyond the scope of maintenance, noting that drastic changes require months, not days, for successful restoration.

Much of the anger over the restoration was directed at the Confraternity of the Macarena. In the Catholic Church, particularly in Europe, confraternities are voluntary associations of laypeople that promote specific works of Christian charity or piety within their communities.

Following the outcry, the confraternity tweeted a statement on June 21 asking for forgiveness and stating that the "unintended aesthetic alteration" caused by the eyelashes and facial color had been corrected.

Nevertheless, many complaints were directed against the confraternity for ordering the restoration, which many viewed as unnecessary and not for the Confraternity of the Macarena to decide.

"The Virgin of La Macarena belongs to the people of Seville, not to the confraternity. She is not a personal possession, and that's why it's very delicate to touch anything that affects the image's aesthetics," Juan Manuel Miñarro, a retired professor of sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Seville, told El País.

The complaints prompted a second statement from its governing board on June 24, again asking forgiveness "for the moral and devotional harm" caused by the restoration work. The board also stated that it is consulting additional specialists to examine the statue and that the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage will oversee the review.

The confraternity added that the steward and head sacristan, who were charged with the statue's care, submitted their resignations, which will be "effective upon resolution of this incident."

Sculpted by an unknown artist in the 17th century, the statue, known locally as La Macarena, is known as the patron saint of matadors and is highly venerated in Seville. The Marian statue features five teardrops and is carried in procession every year on Good Friday.

Given the devotion of La Macarena, St. John XXIII issued a 1963 papal bull granting a request by the Catholic Church of Seville to hold a canonical coronation ceremony in which a crown of gold was placed on the statue.