Catholics across Latin America are observing this year’s Good Friday by participating in many processions and activities that honor the Catholic traditions of their respective countries.
Latin America is home to quite a few world Catholics. According to For Catholic News Agency, more than 40% of the world’s more than 1.4 billion Catholics live in the area. a study The 2024 command of Chile-based Latino Baro Metro revealed that 54% of Latin Americans have been identified as Catholic.
Every year, Catholics mark Holy Week to commemorate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because it is movable, this year’s Holy Week will be held from April 13th (Palm Sunday) to April 20th (Easter Sunday). On Good Friday, Catholics commemorate the cross and death of Jesus Christ through a series of traditions. via crucis (“Station of the Cross”) commemorates the last day of Jesus Christ on earth before the resurrection.
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In Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, Catholic faithful people pilgrimage To respect the passion of Jesus Christ, we will cross the seven churches of the city on Good Friday. The pilgrimage historically visits seven churches in the heart of the city on foot, starting with Our Lady of La Candelaria Church and finishing at Caracas Cathedral, but Catholics may celebrate the tradition by visiting seven temples of their choice.
Another very important and centuries-old Holy Week tradition in Caracas is St. Paul’s Nazareth. All Holy Wednesdays, thousands of Catholic faithful, often wearing purple robes and clothes, matrix hWe pray for our health and express our gratitude to Jesus Christ, carrying the cross, for the miracles we received.
In Brazil, the Latin American country with the largest number of Catholics in the region, one of its most iconic Good Friday traditions takes place in the city of Nova Jerusalem in Pernambuco. Hundreds of actors take part in live plays of Christ’s Passion. Local media It has been reported On Friday, live-action play will be held with additional exhibits until Easter Sunday this year.
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Brazil’s condition Goiasthe local faithful joined the Lord who died every Friday to honor how Jesus Christ died, and was defeated from the cross by his disciples and brought to his tomb. The faithful carry co-representing Jesus under the purple pallium, and the platform of Our Lady of Grief, with some individuals representing the Old Testament personalities of the Bible, such as Abraham and Isaac.
In countries such as Ecuador and Guatemala, Catholics participate in several processions, some of which combine local ancestral traditions. In Ecuador, the Almighty Jesus matrix It takes place every Friday in Quito’s capital. Cucorciosa man wearing a purple robe seeking repentance for tone sin, VeronicusA woman representing the respectable woman who accompanied Jesus on the way of the cross. Name: Veronica, honors women It was provided Jesus is a cloth to wipe his face when he carries the cross.
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In the city of Guatemala, locals are carpet It is made entirely from vegetables every Friday. This reminds us of Mayan tradition and is now synonymous with Holy Week in the City. The tradition first began as a thank-you offering from a man known as “Mr. Akajabon.”
The man born in 1940 and died in 2012, remained paralyzed after his illness, but miraculously recovered after visiting Nazareth in Nazareth every day. The tradition is now maintained by descendants of Akajabon. Locals in Antigua also prepare elaborate and colorful carpets Sawdust Celebrating the processions passing them across city streets.
Most Latin America is free to exercise religious traditions and Catholic faith during Holy Week, but that is not the case in Nicaragua, ruled by communist dictator Daniel Ortega and his wife and “co-president” Rosario Murillo.
Since 2018, the dictatorial couple has been doing something brutal persecution The campaign against Christianity in Nicaragua, and the procession of all public Holy Week remains Prohibited He has been penalised for arrest since 2023. Despite the ban and unrelenting persecution of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church, Ortega has through his wife, Rosario Murillo Hijack He provided daily “religious” messages in state media during Christianity and Holy Week.
A similar case occurs in Cuba, prohibiting several sacred week processions and activities from taking place in the capital Havana In other Cuban cities like that Trinidad.
Christian K. Calzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
