A stream of Catholics trickled down the Brooklyn Bridge during this year’s Good Friday “Village of the Cross” procession. Leading the way were converts who had seen the annual display of amazing devotion grow from 40 people to thousands.
Holding up a five-pound wooden cross, Jonathan Fields led 1,400 people on a two-mile journey that began at St. James Cathedral and Cathedral in downtown Brooklyn and ended in Zuccotti Park in the financial district.
“Cross the bridge, [East] When I think of rivers, I remember when Moses crossed the Red Sea. I am reminded of this sometimes when I start crossing and see the water. I think it’s very symbolic,” Fields, 67, who converted from Judaism at age 24, told the Post.
Organized by the Catholic movement Communion and Liberation, Friday marked the 29th Silent Journey, which aims to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Fields, a church music composer, has participated in the trek every year since its inception in 1996, except for 2020, when it was canceled due to the pandemic.
“I started going to the gym to prepare for this,” the Brooklyn native said with a laugh. “So it was a little bit easier, but it was windy.”
Fields remembers when the crowd was about 40 people, but over the decades he has seen the crowd grow to thousands. Especially after 9/11, firefighters carried crosses from City Hall to Ground Zero.
“The cloth we’re using was made by a friend of mine at CL. He simply found two pieces of wood, put them together, and stained them,” Fields said. “That is the cross that has been used for the past 29 years.
“I think he went to the lumberyard and put it together, and it looked beautiful. It’s the perfect size to carry it up there,” he continued. “Before it was one person carrying it, now it’s multiple people. We now pass it around like a relay.”
Luca Lupi, Giancarlo Diaz and Stefan Adubato also carried the cross on Friday.
Mr. Fields also recalled what an excruciating cross it was to convert from Judaism 25 years ago.
“It was difficult at first. In fact, the first few years were very difficult and I had severe depression. I was very alone in my conversion,” he told the Post. “In fact, when I discovered this movement, I found my first young friend who was alive to my faith, and it saved my life.”
His parents eventually accepted his conversion, and he met his wife through CL.
“They saw how the church helped me and became fans of the church, even if they didn’t convert,” he said. “They realized how much of a positive impact it had on my life and became close friends with all of my Catholic friends.”
Fields enjoys the event so much that she takes her three children with her, but she didn’t attend this year because she was “on the road.”
CL spokesperson Louis Giovino said the walk will take place in complete silence. And like Mr. Fields’ conversion to Catholicism, “a lot of people” have a “really tough” time remaining silent throughout the two-mile journey.
“But one of the most striking things is the silence,” Giovino said. “Even though it’s noisy, it’s solemn. That’s one of the reasons we do it in the daytime on a Friday afternoon.”
The procession is led by Bishop Robert Brennan, and each year the event is “sustained” by blessings from the Pope and local pastors.
