Parish of the Divine Shepherdess and Saint Teresa of Jesus, Plaza de Capuchinos, Málaga
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History of the temple
The Order of Capuchins founded in Malaga in 1619 what would be its third convent in Andalusia. Initially, they settled in the chapel of the Conception, located on Calle Nueva, but they only lasted a few months in that location, not very suitable for monastic life due to the activities in the heart of the city. Thus, on February 28, 1620, the Capuchins took possession of the hermitage of Santa Brígida and its lands, located outside the walls, on the road to Casabermeja. Here they began the construction of a new convent and church that was consecrated on April 30, 1632, and that gave rise to the current neighborhood called Capuchinos.
With the Confiscation of 1835, the Capuchin friars abandoned the convent, and in 1889 they were replaced by the community of Poor Claires that still live there today. The temple and the monastery did not suffer damage during the social conflicts during the 1930´s because they were located next to the old Capuchin barracks. On October 5, 1950, Bishop Ángel Herrera Oria approved by decree the constitution of the church as parish of Santa Teresa de Jesús, being its first parish priest Rev. D. Juan Estrada Castro. At the request of the parishioners, on July 14, 1970, Bishop Ángel Suquía modified the title and added the Divine Shepherdess of Souls due to the extensive and continuous devotion to her image in this church.
The image of the Divine Shepherdess of Souls
The image of the Divine Shepherdess of Souls that presides the high altar of the parish, gives name to the confraternity that venerates her sacred image. Founded by Blessed Fray Diego José de Cádiz in 1771, it is a Marian icon of remarkable strong devotion, deeply rooted in the history and the hearts of the people of Málaga, and especially among the residents of the Capuchin neighbourhood. She is the patroness of the neighbourhood, a beacon of popular devotion that extends beyond its borders, not only by her parishioners and others in the vicariate, but through the whole Diocese and Province.
It is a carved and polychromed wooden sculpture, made to be clothed. Its creation has been dated by several art historians in the mid-18th Century, being one of the first representations venerated in the Catholic world, after it was introduced by Venerable Fray Isidoro of Seville. He conceived it as a Marian icon of the Capuchin Order in Seville, in 1703. Among studies made on its authorship, we may highlight the one made in 1996 by the current professor of Art History at the University of Malaga, Juan Antonio Sánchez, who confirmed characteristics of the Divine Shepherdess of Málaga to the gouges of Sevillian Baroque sculptor José Montes de Oca y León (1668?-1754).
