The Pontiff's visit to Spain will conclude with a thanksgiving Eucharist in the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This celebration, which will have a distinct Canarian flavor, has been meticulously organized by the Diocesan Liturgy Delegation of Tenerife, under the supervision of the Liturgy Delegate of the Spanish Episcopal Conference for the papal trip.
The Vatican's master of ceremonies, an Italian archbishop, will visit Tenerife in May to oversee the final details of the ceremony. Since the announcement of the visit in January, the diocesan delegation has worked intensively on preparing the Eucharist, which is considered a historic event for the island.
Among the logistical preparations, four hundred ciboria, three hundred stoles, one hundred and twenty chasubles, one hundred albs, and thirty miters have been ordered. A significant detail will be the chasuble worn by the Pontiff, designed with specific motifs from the Diocese of Tenerife, always in coordination with Vatican guidelines.
“"It is not about making our mass, but about showing a Church embodied with the people without losing the essence of the Liturgy."
Two hundred priests from the Diocese of Tenerife are expected to concelebrate, along with others from Las Palmas and the mainland. In addition, more than thirty-five members of the papal entourage, including cardinals, archbishops, and bishops, will attend. Over fifty thousand people are expected to attend, for whom eight tents will be set up in the port area for the distribution of communion.
Four hundred extraordinary ministers and two thousand volunteers will assist in the ceremony. The ciboria will also feature an allegorical design, and the Vatican has been proposed to reflect the four-island reality of the diocese. The bishop of the host diocese will be the first concelebrant and will deliver a speech of gratitude to the Pontiff at the end of the Eucharist.
