The president of the island’s institution, Llorenç Galmés, stresses that the manifestations of the saint are part of the island’s intangible heritage.

The Consell de Mallorca is giving a conference on the mite tomasià in Rome. In this way, the island institution begins the year of Saint Catherine Tomàs with a series of events before the Holy See, to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the death of the only Mallorcan saint.

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A conference in Rome on the mite tomasià to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the death of Saint Catalina Tomàs

The president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, stresses that “the manifestations towards Saint Catalina Tomàs are part of the island’s intangible heritage, which is why it is necessary to vindicate this event”. Galmés emphasised the fundamental role played by the island institution over the centuries in the process of beatifying the saint, to the point of establishing dates in the calendar that are still celebrated today and which form part of Mallorca’s popular culture.

This was explained by Llorenç Galmés on Tuesday at the Cervantes Institute, where he gave the lecture Arguments and coordinates for a global restoration of the mite tomasià, which was given by the art historian and researcher of Santa Catalina Tomàs Gabriel Carrió. The bishop of Mallorca, Sebastià Taltavull, also took part in the event.

“The mite tomasià is important because it is an essential ingredient of our collective heritage and responds to a unique configuration of Mallorcan society and personality”: this is how the lecturer Gabriel Carrió explained why it is important to understand the conglomerate of manifestations that make up the memory of Saint Catalina Tomàs. Carrió assured that this part of Mallorca’s history “constitutes an original contribution to the history of Christianity and culture, which is why its global restoration is justified”. He explained that this is a historical process that began in the 16th century and is still ongoing.

Along these lines, the president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, stated that “the global restoration should serve, for example, to explore the lost elements that can be recovered or to document those that cannot be recovered; to cleanse the historical process of readings that do not agree with the original spirit and, ultimately, to strengthen the memory of the saint in all the splendour of the past.

The Spanish ambassador to the Holy See receives the Mallorcan entourage
Before the conference, the Mallorcan delegation, which is visiting Rome these days to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the death of Saint Catherine Tomàs, was received by the Spanish ambassador to the Vatican, Isabel Celaá.

The president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, accompanied by the vice-president and councillor of Culture and Heritage, Antònia Roca, the councillor of the Presidency, Antoni Fuster, and the island’s director of Culture, Guillem Ginard, explained to Celaá the entire programme of events that have been organised to commemorate the anniversary and conveyed the role it plays in the island’s culture and heritage.

In addition to the representatives of the Consell de Mallorca, the delegation also included the mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez; the bishop of Mallorca, Sebastià Taltavull; the mayor of the Santa Margalida Town Council, Joan Monjo, and the mayor of the Valldemossa Town Council, Nadal Torres.