Around 1,500 people have come this Tuesday to the Cathedral of Toledo to take part in the funeral in memory of the 69 mortal victims of the Urda railway accident. The ceremony, presided over by the Kings and officiated by the archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Cerro Chaves, has served to convey to the families that the Church of Toledo feels that their sorrow is “as if it were its own”.
About 150 relatives of the deceased attended the religious service, in addition to various authorities, including the ministers Milagros Tolón, Carlos Cuerpo, Margarita Robles and Mónica García; the presidencies of the Congress and of the Senate, Francina Armengol and Pedro Rollán; and the President of the Supreme Court, María Isabel Perelló.
The image of the Most Holy Christ of the Vera Cruz of Urda, known as “El Cristo de la Mancha,” has presided over the event, exceptionally brought from its sanctuary to the Cathedral. It is the first time it has left Urda since it was created in 1596, except for a period of restoration in Valencia after the Civil War.
A total of 69 parishioners from the parish of Urda have lit 69 candles, one for each mortal victim of the incident, as a gesture of “remembrance and supplication”.
The Kings arrived on time at 19.00 hours and were received by several dozen citizens at the gates of the primatial church. After entering through the Puerta de Reyes, they were greeted by the archbishop before taking their place inside.
Felipe VI and Letizia entered the main nave as the hymn “Acuérdate de Jesucritos” was being sung, performed on the organ by José de Verdalonga, an 18th-century piece, played by the organists Félix González-Mohíno and Jesús Alberto Magán, together with the voices of the Capilla Musical of the Archdiocese of Toledo, the Schola del Seminario Mayor San Ildefonso and the Seises of the Cathedral.
After the start of the mass, the lighting of the 69 candles before the Most Holy Christ of the Vera Cruz was carried out, followed by the first reading, by Ana Benítez, sister of David Benítez, one of the victims.
The text proclaimed was the first letter of the apostle Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, which reflects on the resurrection of the dead at the coming of God. After the responsorial psalm, the deacon Ángel Rodríguez carried out the second reading, taken from the Gospel according to Saint Luke, relating to a miracle of Jesus as he resurrected a young man in Nain.
“To look at the faces of those who suffer”
In the homily, the archbishop has wanted to address especially the families, emphasizing that Toledo feels “as its own” the pain. He has recalled that “the death of so many people, the suffering of the injured, and the anguish of those who have lost their loved ones place us before the mystery of human fragility,” but he has insisted that today, “above all, we want to look into the faces of those who are suffering.”
He has stressed that “behind each life taken away there is a story of love, a family, some projects, some hopes,” as well as “embraces that have been left pending, words that could not be said, and difficult absences to fill.”
Even while acknowledging that “there are no words to ease so much suffering,” Cerro Chaves has offered a “sincere prayer,” recalling that with God, even though “there are things that are hard to understand,” without Him “nothing is understood.”
He has explained that the Church of Toledo and Spain now wish to “support the families with prayer,” and to do so as well “by accompanying silence and respecting tears.” He added that the pain of those close to them “moves,” but that divine mercy “does not consist in preventing us from suffering, but in ensuring that we will never suffer alone.”
During his address he mentioned the presence of Their Majesties the Kings in the Cathedral. “They were already in Toledo, and their closeness to everyone wants to express that an entire people feels united in pain and hope. May this tragedy help us grow in fraternity, in responsibility, and in the awareness of walking together.”
“Today before the Lord we mourn our dead, we embrace those who are suffering, and we ask for hope for everyone. May the memory of those who have left us remain alive in our hearts,” the archbishop has said.
During the course of the ceremony, the telegram sent by Pope León XIV was read out regarding the accident, in which he was shown as “deeply saddened” by what had happened, offered suffrages for the eternal rest of the victims, and conveyed his “sincere condolences” to the families, along with his “expressions of comfort, heartfelt concern, and wishes for the prompt recovery” of the injured.
The Kings, together with the families
Once the liturgy was concluded, which lasted for an hour and a half and ended with the singing of the “Salve Regina,” the Kings went to the Most Holy Christ of Vera Cruz and to the 69 candles that represented the victims, remaining for a few moments in front of the image as a sign of respect.
After that, they have dedicated more than 40 minutes to approaching the family members present in the Cathedral to convey their condolences to them personally, one by one, while the organ of Verdalonga kept sounding. They have wanted to offer them their support in this way and share some words with them, as they were bid farewell with an ovation as they left the church.
Wide institutional representation
The funeral was attended by a strong institutional presence. The presidents of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page; Galicia, Alfonso Rueda; Andalusia, Juanma Moreno; Cantabria, María José Sáenz de Buruaga; Murcia, Fernando López Miras; the Valencian Community, Juan Francisco Pérez Llorca; Aragón, Jorge Azcón; Extremadura, María Guardiola; Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso; the Balearic Islands, Marga Prohens; and Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, were present. Representatives of the governments of La Rioja, Catalonia, the Canaries, and Navarra also attended, as well as the mayors of Los Yébenes, Jesús Pérez; Urda, Manuel Galán; Toledo, Carlos Velázquez; and Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida.
Among the diplomatic corps, the ambassadors of Australia, Rosemary Ann Morris Castico; Argentina, Wenceslao Bunge; Japan, Hiroshi Yamauchi; and the United States, Benjamín León, were present, as well as the consul of Italy, Giacomo Grandesso.
In the ecclesiastical sphere, the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello; the cardinal archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo; the auxiliary bishop of Toledo and general secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Francisco César García Magán; the emeritus archbishop of Toledo, Braulio Rodríguez; the bishop of Cuenca, José María Yanguas; the bishop of Ciudad Real, Abilio Martínez; the bishop of Sigüenza-Guadalajara, Julián Ruiz; the bishop of Albacete, Ángel Román; the emeritus bishop of Segovia, Ángel Rubio; the emeritus bishop of Albacete, Ángel Fernández; and the apostolic nuncio in Mozambique, Luis Miguel Muñoz, took part, along with other religious authorities.