Christians around the world united Friday in solemn remembrance of the sufferings of Christ on the cross. Through processions and reflection, the faithful sought to understand the sacrifice of Jesus.

In Jerusalem, through narrow, cobblestone streets, Christian Pilgrims retraced the traditional path of Jesus’ walk to Calvary along the Via Dolorosa, also known as the Way of Sorrow.

Some wept as they walked through alleys. Others sang hymns and walked with open prayer books, according to the Associated Press.

The numbers of Christians this year were larger than usual because of improved Israeli-Palestinian relations.

At the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Accra, Ghana, church members wore black and red coloured mourning clothes. Canon Professor John Pobee spoke of the relevance of the cross to the present time and place.

He said that Jesus sacrificed himself willingly for mankind, but it was sad that man had forgotten to reciprocate the gesture by loving one another.

In an Australian Good Friday sermon, the message cast its focus on the December 26 tsunami.

"Many ask, where is God to be seen in the suffering of human and natural disaster. But God is where he always is - in the midst of it," said Australian Primate, Archbishop Peter Watson.

"He suffers alongside us and he weeps with us. This is what the Good Friday experience of Christ is all about. Good Friday is God reaching out to the pain of a broken world. Good Friday is the sin and grief of the world placed upon the shoulders of Christ," added Archbishop Watson in a report by the Australian Associated Press.





Francis Helguero
Ecumenical Press