Thousands Retrace Jesus’ Last Steps : Thousands of Pilgrims Follow in Jesus’ Steps

Thousands of Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem marked their most solemn holy day on Good Friday, retracing the steps that Jesus was forced to walk to the spot where he was nailed to a wooden cross and crucified.

In the Philippines, in rituals that Cardinal Jaime Sin called “ridiculous,” nine people--including two women--were nailed to crosses in rice fields and basketball courts today in bloody re-enactments of the Crucifixion, cheered on by festive crowds.

Thousands of other Filipinos in Asia’s only Christian nation lashed their backs and beat themselves with bamboo sticks in acts of penance.

Franciscan monks led the annual pilgrimage along Jerusalem’s Via Dolorosa (Path of Sorrow), a narrow cobblestone path winding through Jerusalem’s walled Old City. They were followed by thousands of Christians--Palestinian Boy and Girl Scouts, Nigerians in flowing robes, chanting Europeans and Asians and travelers from Holy Land tour groups.

City officials said thousands of people took part in the pilgrimage but had no precise estimate. One radio reporter said “tens of thousands” were present.

Some pilgrims and some shopkeepers said this year’s crowd was smaller than most, and many blamed the decline on fears of terrorism.

Israeli Troops Alert

“I had very little worry,” said Bob Shuster of Delton, Mich., when asked whether Middle East terrorism had raised fears for his safety. “I feel that (our group) will all return home safely.”

The pilgrimage marked the second major event of Holy Week, which began with a Palm Sunday march commemorating Jesus Christ’s triumphant ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. It reaches its climax in two days on Easter Sunday, the day Christians believe Jesus arose from the dead before ascending to heaven 40 days later.

Israeli troops kept a watchful eye as the procession wound slowly from St. Anne’s Church in the Muslim quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian quarter.

Many of the pilgrims stopped to pray at the Via Dolorosa’s 14 Stations of the Cross, the places where Christ is said to have stumbled or to have been offered comfort as he dragged the heavy wooden cross to which he was later nailed and crucified between two petty thieves.