València (EFE).- Roc celebrates his two months of life this Monday with a party that no one in his family expected: it is not a baptism, but a civil ceremony of “welcome to citizenship”, the first of those officiated by the City Council de València in the gardens of Monforte, where the baby’s uncle has interpreted ‘Life is beautiful’ on the violin and the mayor, Joan Ribó, has read poems by Gloria Fuertes and Marc Granell.
It was his parents, Candela Perpinyà and Andreu Soler, who, when they found out about the municipal initiative, made the decision to greet Roc’s entry into the world in this way, who was born on Women’s Day, March 8, and who lives in the Abastos neighborhood, in the Valencian capital.
Both expected that there would be a long waiting list, but last week they were contacted by the consistory and offered the possibility of doing the ceremony this Monday, with which they have improvised, according to Soler, who admits that the act seemed “emotional” ”.
Although it has been brief -it has lasted less than half an hour- the “welcome to citizenship” has included a brief explanation of the act by the mayor to the relatives, the reading of rights, the interpretation of the piece of music and a reading of poems .
Books, comics and a stuffed animal for Roc at his baptism
In addition, the mayor has given the family some books, some comics, a badge and a stuffed animal, and other relatives, who have not yet met the baby, have brought other gifts to the child.
Roc and his parents have been accompanied by about twenty relatives, who were hastily notified last week but who “since most of them are retired, have been able to come” and also “were curious” about the act, so much so that it was ” harder to reserve the restaurant to eat” than to get everyone to come.
“I am not baptized, so a religious baptism would be hypocritical,” considers Soler, who adds that, although they did not think of any Catholic ceremony, they did plan to “hold some celebration” for the birth of their son.
His mother, who when he was born was baptized “by tradition” rather than by religious conviction, is betting that, “when he is older and has reason”, it will be Roc who decides if he wants to be baptized by the church.
Their son, Candela assures, will be told when he grows up “the expectation that his welcome has generated”, and they will tell him that “he has behaved very well and has not cried at any time.”
The experience was also liked by the baby’s grandmother, Chelo García, who celebrates that her grandson is going to “introduce” in “a novel way” of which “she had no idea.”
38% of atheists, agnostics or laymen in Valencia
Like Andreu and Candela, almost 38% of Valencians consider themselves atheists, agnostics or secularists, which makes them representatives of “the second most numerous way of understanding the religion in the city”, behind Catholics, he highlighted. the mayor, Joan Ribó.
The most numerous, 58% of the city’s residents, are believers, but “of every three of these, two are not practitioners, compared to 17% who are”.
“We remember the rights of people, in this case the rights of children, from the position that we are a society in which, above the religious fact, which is plural, there are a series of elements common to all”, has indicated the mayor.
For this reason, Ribó does not want to talk about a “civil baptism” since, he assures, the consistory “does not want to compete with anyone”, and he prefers to refer to this ceremony, which was already done in other Spanish cities, as “an act of reception and of celebration”.
For now, the welcome ceremonies will be held on Mondays, once a month, because the Jardines de Monforte mansion is also used for weddings, although if it is necessary to extend the days of celebration, the City Council will study it.