200,000 people attend a religious celebration

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A total of 202 groups of religious dances, fanfares and about 200,000 faithful from different parts of the country and abroad gathered at the religious festival of La Tirana, which is celebrated in the distant city every year. kilometers from Iquique

Neither the distances nor the extreme temperatures recorded in the locality, which exceeded Monday by 30 degrees, were an obstacle to the arrival of the pilgrims, who came to pay their expenses and to pay homage to the "Queen of Tamarugal".

The main religious office was led by the Bishop of the Diocese of Iquique, Guillermo Vera, with the participation of the clergy of the region and hundreds of faithful who gathered on the island. esplanade of the Shrine of Tirana

There, the ecclesiastical authority asked the healthy coexistence of the country, the sense of brotherhood and, referring to the teachings of the Virgin, said that "we are all that peace the most noble things and also the worst things, so be careful, we will fail because we are fragile, but with the grace of God, when we fail, we have the lucidity to realize our mistakes to overcome our falls, we excuse us when we have offended and repaired in one way or another the harm we have committed …. His message is given in the middle of the complex moment when the Church lives after the last cases of 39 Sexual abuse against mi

At the time of the balance sheet, the bishop appreciated the mbadive presence of the faithful, despite the questions he asked. the Chilean Church. "The pilgrims came to La Tirana with their personal burdens and with all that we have experienced, some arrive with discouragement and questioning, but here they are ready to renew themselves and to go forward. I thank the faithful for continuing to believe in the Church, "says Vera.

During the religious ceremony, the descent of the image of the Virgin was developed and with ribbons launched from top of the temple, the faithful They prayed and made their requests to the "Chinita", while others greeted with white handkerchiefs in the image.

In parallel, and dressed in costumes colorful, members of dance groups, among which were the morenadas, zambos, chunchos, cuscas and gypsies, rang their rattles.
A few hours before the main religious service, the arrival of July 16 was celebrated with the "Misa de Alba", where fireworks were launched

The group, which lasts ten days, has fulfilled its demands, some of which include physical suffering, as a way of finding solutions to the problems that plague them.They also create endless lines p to get closer to the image of the Virgin.

"Every year we come with the family to see the Virgin of La Tirana, it is very miraculous, we are very grateful for her and we promised her that we would meet year after year," says Carmen Ortiz, Originally from Chañaral.

Jorge Gutiérrez, president of the Imbique Religious Society Humberto Gutiérrez, says that for 85 years they have been dancing in La Tirana, a tradition that his grandfather began. "This is a family who for three generations came to the village to thank the "Chinita". Every year we come to renew the faith and we do it with love, we give thanks for all the blessings. "

As part of the party, strict police control is carried out by the Carabinieri and the Investigative Police (PDI), Until yesterday, there remained 30 detainees, who mainly related to offenses intellectual property law, smuggling, the Alcohol Act, drug possession and drunkenness, the health authority, which allowed the seizure of nearly a thousand kilos of meat that did not meet the standards of slaughter or cold chains for marketing.

The Mayor of Tarapacá, Miguel Ángel Quezada, badured that the order "A series of services was deployed as well that a strong contingent of police to develop everything in order. According to the estimates of the carabineros, about 200,000 faithful arrived in the city. "