Tomás Antonio Rubio Carrillo, appointed as the town crier for Holy Week in Cieza 2018 by the Board of Passion Brotherhoods of Cieza, will deliver the opening speech next Sunday, March 18.
Tomás Antonio Rubio Carrillo was born in Cieza on January 29, 1968. Proud of his family, he will soon celebrate his silver anniversary with Dori Morata, and has three children and a granddaughter with whom he shares his life passionately.
He spent his childhood and youth in the San Juan Bosco neighborhood, very close to the parish, which witnessed his friendship with his former parish priest, Mr. Antonio Salas. He studied at the Cristo de Consuelo School, where, according to him, he found his calling as a teacher.
He completed his high school studies at the Diego Tortosa Secondary School, the same school where he has been a religion teacher for 26 years. He studied at the Faculty of Theology in Granada and holds a degree in Ecclesiastical Studies. In 2007, he studied at the Catholic University and earned a degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology, with his final thesis on Holy Week in Cieza. He also holds a Master's degree in Contemporary Thought from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Murcia.
He was Director of the Diocesan Center for Youth Ministry of the Diocese of Cartagena from 1992 to 2005, and founder and director of the Javier Azagra School of Leisure Time Animation and Education, with which he continues to collaborate. He has several publications in the pastoral field and also in the field of personalist philosophy and education. In 2010, the Brotherhood of Veronica granted him the honor of being the Christmas herald. In 2011, he participated, along with Manuel Villalba, in the series of conferences called the Passion Outreach Conference, where he was a speaker at the conference "Ritual Anthropology and Symbolism of the Procession of Souls."
Although his sons, Salva, Manuel, and Jesús, along with his brothers, are associated with the Brotherhood of San Pedro, he does not belong to any. However, his knowledge of the Gospel and his Christian experience give him a holistic view of Holy Week in Cieza. Precisely this broad perspective leads him to feel as much a part of Holy Week as someone who carries a bier or a staff, for he holds the firm conviction that it is difficult to be a Ciezan and not be a "Semana Santa" (Holy Week) person. As difficult, he says, as someone who reads the Gospel and remains impassive.