Pilate’s Sentence closes the Passion performance in the square and begins Jesus’s journey through the streets of Verges. The condemnation, the washing of hands and the arrival of the cross connect the two parts of the Procession.
Jesus before the Roman governor
Following his arrest in the Garden, Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate. The script presents a conflict of power and responsibility: the governor questions the prisoner, hears his adversaries’ accusations and faces pressure to condemn him.
The interventions of Caiaphas and the other trial characters belong to the theatrical drama of Verges. The crowd, the manages and the dialogue give the confrontation its stage form, until Pilate yields and pronounces the death sentence.
The scourging and the presentation of Jesus
The scene includes the scourging, the crown of thorns and the presentation of the abused Jesus. The expression Ecce Homo identifies this moment: Pilate shows the prisoner to those demanding his death. The performance combines speech with the arrangement of characters and costumes.
Washing hands: the squire’s role
Pilate’s gesture requires another participant to prepare the action. Felip Figueras Oliveras remembers playing Pilate’s squire, the young man who brought the dish, water and towel so the governor could wash his hands.
This brief role is essential to making the scene understandable. Felip’s recollection reveals the work behind a familiar gesture; it does not by itself establish an exact date or a list of every squire. His involvement also included the manages, but this memory cannot provide an annual chronology.
Pilate tries to present the washing as a way to distance himself from the condemnation. The dramatic contrast is that, despite this gesture, he is the one who pronounces the sentence.
The cross and the departure into the streets
The 2011 text distinguishes Pilate’s sentence, the arrival of the cross and the trumpeter’s proclamation as the departure begins. On p. 99, Jesus addresses the cross as his “sweet and beloved spouse”: the image expresses the character’s sacrifice and redemption.
The Procession continues beyond the stage, with Jesus, the manages and the Jueus. The same text develops this relationship with the cross again during the Third Fall.
Sources
La Processó de Verges, 2011 edition, Pontius Pilate scene, particularly pp. 98–100. Interview with Felip Figueras Oliveras in the Memòria Viva La Processó project, analysed as part of this research. This description concerns the published script, rather than fixing every detail of later editions.
