A reliquary containing a fragment of the True Cross, preserved in the convent of San Salvador In Jerusalem, was donated by the Custodian of Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, to Bishop Antonio Reig Pla of Cartagena (Spain) on 19 March. The handing over of the relic occurred during a celebration, before a group of over 200 pilgrims from the Confraternity of the Cross in Caravaca, in the north-west of the Spanish province of Murcia. It is here that a relic of the True Cross has been venerated since the 13th century, when it miraculously “appeared” in the city, then under Mohammedan rule. This relic and the veneration it has produced have turned Caravaca de la Cruz and its Sanctuary into one of the five cities of the world where the Jubilee Year was celebrated. The privilege was granted by John Paul II in 1998, and is shared with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostella and San Turibio de Liebana (Spain). The links between the Custodianship of the Holy Land and Spain are ancient. The Custodial Vicar, the Spaniard Fra Artemio Vitores, recalled that “to venerate the Holy Cross means to worship the Risen Christ, who turned an infamous wood into the wood of victory over death”. In exchange for the gift, Manuel-Fernando Guerrero Sanchez, representative of the Confraternity, presented the Custodian with a picture of the Reliquary of the Holy Cross, in which the relic from Jerusalem will be placed, and a crucifix of Caravaca, as worn by members of the Confraternity.
