On September 9, Seville Cathedral commemorates Santa María de la Antigua

A commemoration looking toward Panama

Seville Cathedral is marking these days the first anniversary of the pontifical coronation of Santa María de la Antigua, patron saint of Panama. This commemoration brings to the fore a devotion that connects the Andalusian capital and the Central American country around the same Marian figure. The event is not limited to a liturgical remembrance: it highlights a bond of faith between two communities whose religious histories intersect through the presence and veneration of Santa María de la Antigua.

On September 9, 2025, the Archbishop of Seville, Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses, presided over the solemn Mass at the Santa María la Antigua cathedral-basilica in Panama. The first anniversary of this celebration gives particular significance to September 9, associated with a ceremony that brought together the Seville ecclesiastical authority and the Panamanian sanctuary dedicated to the country's patron saint.

A Marian image at the heart of a shared history

The commemoration presented by Seville Cathedral highlights Santa María de la Antigua as the patron saint of Panama. This recognition explains the symbolic force of the pontifical coronation celebrated a year earlier: it concerns an image placed at the centre of Panamanian devotion, while its invocation maintains a close relationship with Seville. The very title of the celebration evokes a “bond of faith” uniting two peoples.

At Seville Cathedral, the Chapel of the Virgin of the Antigua is among the monument's most important spaces, alongside the Royal Chapel. It is dominated by a depiction of the Virgin of the Antigua dating from the late 14th century. This presence in the city's principal religious building gives a heritage dimension to the remembrance of the Panamanian celebration.

Seville Cathedral is presented as a place where faith, history and art meet. Its heritage includes spaces for worship, works of art and architectural elements inherited from different periods. In this context, the reference to Santa María de la Antigua is not merely a matter of current religious news: it also points to an enduring Marian presence in the identity of the Seville temple.

The September 9, 2025 ceremony as an anchor point

The solemn Mass celebrated on September 9, 2025 is the central event of the anniversary recalled by Seville Cathedral. It was presided over by Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses in Panama, at the church bearing the name Santa María la Antigua. The presence of the Archbishop of Seville at this liturgy places the celebration within a tangible relationship between the two Churches and their respective devotions.

The pontifical coronation is the object commemorated by the Seville announcement. One year later, the cathedral has chosen to recall this act through the figure of Panama's patron saint and the setting of the Mass celebrated in Panama's cathedral-basilica. The emphasis is on the continuity of a devotion rather than an isolated ceremony, with the stated intention of highlighting what brings the two peoples together.

Seville Cathedral, a landmark for this devotion

Seville Cathedral describes itself as the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and as a building shaped by the meeting of several styles, notably Almohad, Mudéjar, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. This layering of inheritances sheds light on the place given to devotions and images that have accompanied the life of the temple over the centuries. The Virgin of the Antigua occupies an identified location there, near the Royal Chapel.

Seville Cathedral houses an art collection described as being of inestimable value, as well as a heritage that reflects the faith of generations of worshippers. The commemoration of Santa María de la Antigua forms part of this mission of transmission: through a current event connected with Panama, it brings back into view an image already present in the major spaces of the Seville cathedral.

Seville Cathedral also sustains a pastoral life of sacraments, Mass and confession times, and choral office. This dimension as a living temple helps explain the meaning given to the anniversary: Santa María de la Antigua is invoked in an institution where artistic heritage and religious activity remain closely associated.

Two peoples united by the same Marian reference

The message conveyed by this commemoration is one of continuity between Seville and Panama. Panama's patron saint is also present in the devotional and heritage world of Seville Cathedral, where a chapel is dedicated to her. The first anniversary of the pontifical coronation therefore provides a specific occasion to recall this closeness, beginning with a celebration held in Panama and relayed from Seville.

Seville Cathedral stresses a heritage in which faith, memory and devotion continue to contribute to the life of the place. In the case of Santa María de la Antigua, this memory extends beyond Andalusia: the anniversary of the 2025 ceremony refers to a Panamanian patron saint and to a celebration presided over by the Archbishop of Seville. It is this dual belonging that gives the commemoration its particular significance.

A date that extends the memory of the celebration

By recalling September 9, 2025, Seville Cathedral establishes the first anniversary milestone of a solemn celebration held at the Santa María la Antigua cathedral-basilica in Panama. The news does not reveal a newly announced ceremony, but keeps alive the memory of the pontifical coronation and the liturgical act that accompanied it. The bond between Seville and Panama can thus be read in a date, a sanctuary and the same Marian devotion.

For Seville Cathedral, this evocation adds to the memory of the works, chapels and celebrations that form its identity. Santa María de la Antigua appears there both as a visible presence in an important chapel of the monument and as the patron saint whose pontifical coronation Panama celebrated. One year after the solemn Mass, this convergence remains at the heart of the message addressed to the faithful on both sides of the Atlantic.