Roman Catholics and Christians from around the world have joined together to celebrate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ with prayers and processions on Good Friday.
Good Friday, a holy day which is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday, in Christianity is a commemoration the suffering that led to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Easter. Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified on Good Friday and resurrected on Easter Sunday. For the Eastern Orthodox churches, Good Friday falls on May 3.
The Holy Day is observed primarily by Christians, who remember the death of Jesus Christ at Calvary.
In Vatican City, the newly-elected Pope Francis will recite Christ’s story in a Good Friday service at St. Peter's Basilica. After, Pope Francis will make his way to Rome to the Colosseum where he will lead the Way of the Cross ceremony in a candlelit procession, marking the new head of the Catholic church’s first Good Friday celebration. However, there will be no mass for Good Friday at the Vatican. On Maundy Thursday, also called Holy Thursday, the pontiff washed the feet of 12 prisoners as an act of humility.
Hundreds of Christians gathered in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday, hosting up and nailing themselves to wood crosses while chanting and praying, The Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, revelers drew crows when they marked the holiday by re-enacting the crucifixion, Reuters reported. As many as two dozen people nailed themselves to crosses, beat themselves or carried the wooden crosses as onlookers gazed in San Pedro Cutud town, Pampanga province, north of Manila. Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said the gruesome display of celebrating in this manner is folk Catholicism but accepted.
“We are in no position to suppress them,” he told Reuters.
“I do not think it is right to close our doors to them just because they are more attracted to these folk practices than to our Roman liturgy which they may find too foreign or cerebral.”
House painter Ruben Inaje has been playing the role of Christ in the demonstration for 27 years and says he continues to do it every year despite mixed feelings.
“We do this because of our faith not because we’re paid,” he told Reuters. “Two years ago, I said it would be the last time I’d do it. But every time I say that, my wife gets sick. I guess God wants me to continue this sacrifice as a lifetime vow.”
Many of those who practice the re-enactment on Good Friday are “seeking forgiveness, a cure for illness and the fulfillment of other wishes,” Reuters reported.
Ruben Enaje, 52, who is portraying Jesus Christ for the 27th time, screams as he hangs on a wooden cross during a Good Friday crucifixion re-enactment in San Pedro Cutud town, Pampanga province, north of Manila March 29, 2013. The Roman Catholic church frowns on the gory spectacle held in the Philippine village of Cutud every Good Friday but does nothing to deter the faithful from emulating the suffering of Christ and taking a painful route to penitence. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
ReutersPope Francis leads the Chrismal mass in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 28, 2013.
ReutersA member of the Italian community playing the role of Jesus takes part in a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday in Bensheim, southwest of Frankfurt, March 29, 2013. Thousands of spectators watched the yearly Passion Play performed by about 100 laity actors. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
ReutersPolish catholic devotees re-enact out the "Way of the Cross" on Good Friday as part of Holy Week celebrations at the Kalwaria Wejherowska near Gdansk, northern Poland March 29, 2013. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
ReutersPakistani Christians attend a Good Friday service at the Marry am bay-daagh church in Lahore March 29, 2013. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
ReutersCatholic nuns attend the annual Good Friday "Stations of the Cross" procession in the gardens of the Montmartre's Sacre Coeur Basilica in Paris March 29, 2013. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
ReutersFrench Archbishop of Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-trois (L) carries a cross in the gardens of the Montmartre's Sacre Coeur Basilica during the annual Good Friday "Stations of the Cross" procession in Paris March 29, 2013. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
ReutersA man playing the role of Jesus carries a cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Good Friday during Holy Week, in Jerusalem's Old City March 29, 2013. Christian worshippers retraced the route Jesus took along Via Dolorosa to his crucifixion in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
ReutersFelix Anaye, 32, who is portraying Jesus Christ, walks as he is pulled on a chain by a man portraying a Roman soldier ahead of Good Friday in Mandaluyong city, metro Manila March 28, 2013. Penitents will be nailed to a cross on Good Friday in a display of religious devotion in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
ReutersActors take part in a "Via Crucis" (Way of the Cross) re-enactment of the Last Supper during Holy Week, in preparation for Good Friday celebrations, in Luque March 27, 2013. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
ReutersActors take part in a "Via Crucis" (Way of the Cross) re-enactment of the Last Supper during Holy Week, in preparation for Good Friday celebrations, in Luque March 27, 2013. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
Reuters
