Pilgrims Retrace Jesus’ Steps in Good Friday Processions

Singing hymns and carrying wooden crosses, thousands of pilgrims marched in solemn Good Friday processions Friday, retracing what tradition says were Jesus’ final steps to his crucifixion.

The half-mile Via Dolorosa, or Way of Sorrow, snakes east to west through the walled Old City of Jerusalem, finishing at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which many Christians believe is the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

The plaza in front of the basilica was packed with people, and the Via Dolorosa was filled almost to capacity, in a sign that the stream of pilgrims that started with the new year and peaked during the millennium visit of Pope John Paul II last month has not abated.

A highlight was the reenactment in costume of Jesus’ walk by 50 members of a Southern California group, the Brea-based Christ in You the Hope of Glory International Ministry. Playing Jesus, Anthony Rivilla of Los Angeles carried a wooden cross on his bare back. His face was smudged with fake blood, and a crown of thorns sat on his head. Roman soldiers with red-plumed helmets pushed him forward.

Accompanied by monks in brown robes, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah led the official Roman Catholic Church procession. The clergymen sang hymns and knelt in prayer at the stations of the Via Dolorosa, each marking an event during Jesus’ walk.

In his message, the patriarch echoed the pope’s assertion of the church’s willingness to work with Jews and Muslims.

In the Philippines, at least 15 Filipinos were nailed to crosses Friday in reenactments of Jesus’ death that have become a fixture of Easter Week celebrations in Asia’s largest Catholic nation.

Thousands of tourists flocked to a dusty hill outside San Pedro Cutud, a village 40 miles north of Manila, where 11 of the ritual crucifixions occurred. Most of the reenactments under the blazing sun lasted about 10 minutes.

The Catholic Church frowns on the ritual crucifixions but does not attempt to stop them.