Queen Sofía of Spain carried out an engagement related to a 300-year-old tradition in the Spanish Royal Family: the feet kissing of the statue of the Christ of Medinaceli.
Upon her arrival in the Basilica, Her Majesty was welcomed by the local church authorities, as well as a small crowd cheering her on.
She then sat for the church service before opening the line of worshipers for the traditional foot kissing. Due to health safety measures, the kissing is symbolic, and the statue is disinfected.
The tradition mandates that every first Friday in March, churchgoers gather in the Cristo de Medinaceli Basilica to worship the image held in the church.
The statue itself is from the first half of the 17th century and is 1.73 metres tall (or 5’6″). Its sculptor is unknown, although stylistic elements point at it coming from the school of Sevilla and, more specifically, the boutique of Juan de Mesa.
It depicts Jesus Christ in the moment of his passion when Pontius Pilate presents him to the public. It is known as the Christ of Medinaceli because, upon its return to Spain, it was housed in a small chapel on terrains property of the Duke of Medinaceli, a title still present today and held by the 20th Duchess of Medinaceli, Princess Victoria Elisabeth von Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
The church is one of the five Basilicas in Madrid and was granted such status by Pope Paul VI in 1973. It is currently held by capuchin monks, who are part of the same order that first removed the statue from Spain to La Mamora (modern-day Mehdya, in Morocco) for the Spanish troops to venerate.
The church is build on top of the Convento de trinitarios descalzos de Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación, a convent inaugurated on 7 April 1606.
Despite her Greek Orthodox upbringing, Queen Sofía has always considered herself Spanish and has been a devoted worshiper in the Roman Catholic Church since becoming the consort of the King of Spain.
