Via Crucis in Havana

The procession of the Via Crucis, one of the most widespread religious traditions in the world, returned this Friday to Havana.

Like every Good Friday —except during the isolation due to the pandemic— the historic center of Havana hosted the tour that, over 14 seasons, evokes the final episodes of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

The procession brought together priests, nuns, deacons and faithful, who carried on their shoulders or accompanied images of Jesus carrying the cross and the Virgin Mary Sorrowful.

There was also no lack of prayers, vows and songs, before the eyes of neighbors, onlookers and visitors.

The procession started from the Church of Cristo del Buen Viaje, in the central Christ Squareand crossed streets such as Amargura, Aguiar, Empedrado and Tejadillo, until arriving at the Church of Santo Ángel.

Shortly before arriving at his destination, he had, as is traditional, his penultimate stop at the imposing Cathedral of Havana.

The Via Crucis represents the so-called Passion of Christ, his sacrifice for the salvation of humanity, and is based on religious tradition and evangelical accounts.

Not only the Catholic Church remembered those events this Friday. Protestant congregations also did it with their own codes and ways, such as the Central Havana Methodist Church, which staged the suffering of Jesus on his way to Calvary on the well-known Neptuno street.

The procession of the Via Crucis is one of the main moments of Holy Week, which concludes this Sunday, named in the Catholic religious tradition as Resurrection Sunday.

In Cuba, as in other countries, it is a long-awaited celebration by the Christian community and the Catholic Church in particular, consolidated after the official consideration of Good Friday as a holiday. The decision was made by the Cuban government at the request of Pope Benedict XVI, after his visit to the island, first exceptionally and then established regularly since 2014.