Mar 29, 2013

The cross-bearers of Christian Holy Week

Nick Tann 0 Comment Nation, World Christians, crucifixion, Easter, Good Friday, gore, Jesus

The week week before Easter, the day when Christians commemorate Jesus’ resurrection, is celebrated as Holy Week in the many Christian traditions around the world. Part of these celebrations involve reenactments of the path Jesus took to his crucifixion and the pain and suffering he endured. Today, Good Friday, marks the day when Jesus was taken down from the cross after his death and placed in a tomb, where he emerges and ascends to Heaven three days later.

Some of the Christian faithful take these Holy Week reenactments more literally than others, including actors actually being nailed to crosses. Even though the Roman Catholic church frowns on such activities, no actions have been taken to stop the extremests from observing the suffering of Jesus in such a painful display of faith.

PLEASE NOTE: Viewers be advised that photos contain depictions of gore and violence.

: March 29, 2013: Actors perform during the Via Crucis procession as part of the Good Friday celebration in Mexico City. (Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: People attend the 18th annual ‘Way of the Cross Over the Brooklyn Bridge Ceremony’ in New York. The ceremony, hosted yearly on the Christian holy day of Good Friday, includes walking from St. James Cathedral, over the Brooklyn Bridge to St. Peter’s Church, in Manhattan. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Penitents take part in the procession of the “Nuestra Senora de la Quinta Angustia” brotherhood during Holy Week in Santiago de Compostela, northern Spain. (Miguel Vidal/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: An actor portraying Jesus Christ takes part in a “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) procession during Holy Week at Plateau Dokui, an area of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. (Luc Gnago/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: A member of the Nazarenos brotherhood take part in a Holy Week procession in Zipaquira, Colombia. (John Vizcaino /Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Guatemalan migrant Kevin plays Jesus Christ during the Via Crucis at the Obrera neighborhood in Tenosique, state of Tabasco, Mexico near the border with Guatemala. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Guatemalan migrant Kevin plays Jesus Christ during the Via Crucis at the Obrera neighborhood in Tenosique, state of Tabasco, Mexico near the border with Guatemala. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Actors perform during the Via Crucis procession as part of the Good Friday celebration in Mexico City. (Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Actors enact the Passion of Jesus Christ in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia, as part of Good Friday ceremonies. (Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Actors enact the Passion of Jesus Christ in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia, as part of Good Friday ceremonies. (Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29 , 2013: An actor represents Jesus Christ during the Via Crucis procession along the streets of Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia, as part of Good Friday ceremonies. (Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: People attend the 18th annual ‘Way of the Cross Over the Brooklyn Bridge Ceremony’ in New York City. The ceremony, hosted yearly on the Christian holy day of Good Friday, includes walking from St. James Cathedral, over the Brooklyn Bridge to St. Peter’s Church, in Manhattan. The event attracts approximately 2,000 people each year. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Residents dressed as penitents take part in an Easter Passion Play on Good Friday in the Basque town of Balmaseda, Spain. (Vincent West/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Worshippers re-enact the “Stations of the Cross” during a procession on Good Friday in Ourem, central Portugal. (Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: A child holds up a cross made of bamboo during the celebration of Holy Week on Good Friday at Gantang Village near Magelang, in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. (Dwi Oblo/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Villagers take part in an Easter Passion Play re-enacting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday at Gantang Village near Magelang, in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. (Dwi Oblo/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Audience members watch a performance of the “Passion of Christ” in Trafalgar Square, London. (Andrew Winning/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Actors enact the Passion of Jesus Christ during Good Friday in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. (Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Actors enact the Passion of Jesus Christ during Good Friday in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. (Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Pope Francis holds a crucifix aloft as he presides over a Papal Mass with the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion inside St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Francis is taking part in his first holy week as pontiff and will later today preside over the Way Of the Cross procession at the Colosseum in Rome. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Polish catholic devotees re-enact the “Way of the Cross” on Good Friday as part of Holy Week celebrations at the Kalwaria Wejherowska in Wejherowo, near Gdansk, northern Poland. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Polish catholic devotees re-enact the “Way of the Cross” on Good Friday as part of Holy Week celebrations at the Kalwaria Wejherowska in Wejherowo near Gdansk, northern Poland. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Actor Edrwin Velazquez (on cross) takes part in a “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) procession during Holy Week in Yaguaron, 47 km (29 miles) south of Asuncion,Paraguay. (Jorge Adorno/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Villagers take part in an Easter Passion Play re-enacting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday at Gantang Village near Magelang, in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. (Dwi Oblo/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Villagers take part in an Easter Passion Play re-enacting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday at Gantang Village near Magelang, in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. (Dwi Oblo/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: An actor playing Jesus hangs on a cross during a performance of the Passion of Jesus by the Wintershall Players in Trafalgar Square, central London. (Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images

: March 29, 2013: An actor playing Jesus hangs on a cross during a performance of the Passion of Jesus by the Wintershall Players in Trafalgar Square, central London. (Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: An Indian Christian devotee portraying Jesus Christ, (C) carries a cross as he takes part in a Good Friday procession commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Amritsar. Christians account for 2.3 percent of India’s billion-plus Hindu majority population. (Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images

: March 29, 2013: Paris’ archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois carries a cross as he takes part in a Way of the Cross in Paris, in front of the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Montmartre district, to celebrate Good Friday. (Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Christian worshipers carry a large wooden cross at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during the Good Friday procession in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israel. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Relatives undress Cesar Higuero Martin, aged 25, after walking the way of the cross or ‘Via Crucis’ at the end of the procession of the ‘Empalaos’ in Valverde de la Vera, Spain. Empalaos make the steps of the ‘Via Crucis’, marking the Stations of the Cross, during the night of Maundy Thursday while bound by rope to a crucifix as an act of penance and to honour a promise made to the Empalaos Brotherhood and the Christ of Vera Cruz, in the town of Valverde de la Vera. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Cesar Higuero Martin, aged 25, prays at one station of the way of the cross or ‘Via Crucis’ during the procession of the ‘Empalaos’ in Valverde de la Vera, Spain. The process of dressing the Empalao in the traditional costume is taken with great care, with the family and dressers paying attention to ensure that no harm is caused to the penitent and that they are aided in their recovery, including being massaged and rubbed with rosemary alcohol. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: A penitent carries a cross during the Holy Week procession of the Cofradia Jesus Yacente in Zamora, Spain. (Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: A 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. Christian worshippers retraced the route Jesus took along Via Dolorosa to his crucifixion in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: A 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. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Pilgrims walk with crosses as the Northern Cross pilgrimage makes its final leg of the journey to Holy Island in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England. More than 50 people, young and old, celebrated Easter by crossing the tidal causeway during the annual Christian pilgrimage. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: A man playing the role of Jesus carries a cross as members of the Italian community take part in a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday in Bensheim, Germany. Thousands of spectators watched the yearly Passion Play performed by about 100 laity actors. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Catholics carry a holy cross at a street parade during a special Good Friday mass in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

: March 28, 2013: A man playing the role of Jesus is crucified during a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross at the Sanctuary of Chimayo in Chimayo, New Mexico. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Residents stand in front of a wooden cross on which penitent had been hung during a Good Friday crucifixion re-enactment in San Juan village, Pampanga province, north of Manila. About two dozen Filipinos were nailed to crosses on Good Friday in an extreme display of devotion that the Catholic church looks down upon as a form of folk religion but appears powerless to stop. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: A man playing the role of Jesus carries a cross during a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross at the Holy Family minor Basilica in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: A man playing the role of Jesus falls while carrying a cross during a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross at the Holy Family minor Basilica in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: A man playing the role of Jesus carries a cross during a Good Friday procession in the northeastern Indian city of Guwahati. (Utpal Baruah/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Philippine Christian devotee Ruben Enaje (C), grimaces in pain as he is nailed to the Cross by men dressed as Roman soldiers during a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday in San Fernando City, Pampanga province, north of Manila. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: A penintent is nailed to a cross during the reenactment of crucifixion on Good Friday in the village of San Juan, San Fernando City, north of Manila. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Philippine Christian devotee Ruben Enaje grimaces in pain after being nailed to the Cross by men dressed as Roman soldiers during a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday in San Fernando City, Pampanga province, north of Manila. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Ruben Enaje, 52, who is portraying Jesus Christ for the 27th time, is closely watched by two men who play Roman soldiers while his feet are nailed to a wooden cross during a Good Friday crucifixion re-enactment in San Pedro Cutud town, Pampanga province, north of Manila. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

: March 29, 2013: Sri Lankan Christian devotees take part in the annual Way of the Cross ritual, which symbolises the final journey of Jesus Christ before he was crucified, during a Good Friday service in Colombo. Christians account for around six percent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million population. (Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: A penitent is nailed to the cross during the reenactment of crucifixion on Good Friday in the village of San Juan, San Fernando City, north of Manila. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: Philippine Christian devotee Ruben Enaje (C), is nailed to a cross during a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday in San Fernando City, Pampanga province, north of Manila. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 29, 2013: A penitent is nailed to the cross during the reenactment of the crucifixion on Good Friday in the village of San Juan, San Fernando City, north of Manila. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 28, 2013: The prisoner who will receive perdon today carries a cross as he takes part in a procession with penitents of the “Nuestra Senora del Rosario” brotherhood during the Holy Week in La Laguna on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife. (Desiree Martin/AFP/Getty Images

: March 28, 2013: A boy joins his family as they carry crosses to one of the Stations of the Cross while doing the “Visita Iglesia” , a traditional custom of visiting one, seven, or 14 churches and praying on Maundy Thursday, at a church in Quezon City in Metro Manila. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters)

: March 28, 2013: A girl carries a cross as she walks past one of the Stations of the Cross while doing the “Visita Iglesia”, a traditional custom of visiting one, seven, or 14 churches and praying on Maundy Thursday, at a church in Quezon City in Metro Manila. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters)

: March 28, 2013: Students playing the roles of Roman soldiers flog a man playing the role of Jesus (L) during a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross at the Sanctuary of Chimayo in Chimayo, New Mexico. The students are part of a youth group from Our Lady of Sorrows church in Bernalillo, New Mexico which re-enacts the Stations of the Cross every year. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

: March 28, 2013: A man playing the role of Jesus carries a cross during a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross at the Sanctuary of Chimayo in Chimayo, New Mexico. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

: March 28, 2013: A penitent walks inside the cathedral holding a cross during the Holy Week procession of the Cofradia de la Virgen de la Esperanza in Zamora, Spain. (Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

: March 28, 2013: Penitents of the “Las Cigarreras” brotherhood cross a bridge in Sevilla during the Holy Week. (Cristina Quicler/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 28, 2013: A penitent with his face covered with a portrait of Jesus carries a cross as he participates in symbolic ceremonies which commemorate Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection on Holy Thursday in Angeles City, Pampanga province north of Manila. Crucifixions and self-flagellations are among the grisliest, but by no means the only extreme acts of penitence on show in the Philippines, one of Asia’s largest Catholic outpost with about 75 million followers. (Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 28, 2013: A penitent carries a cross while other flagellate themselves as they participate in symbolic ceremonies which commemorate Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection on Holy Thursday in Angeles City, Pampanga province north of Manila. (Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 27, 2013: An actor carries a cross as he plays the role of Jesus Christ in a re-enactment of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) in a procession during Holy Week, in preparation for Good Friday celebrations, in Luque, Paraguay. (Jorge Adorno/Reuters)

: March 27, 2013: Actors 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, Paraguay. (Jorge Adorno/Reuters)

: March 27, 2013: Students perform a scene from the Stations of the Cross commemorating Jesus Christ’s last hours during Holy Week celebrations in Luque, Paraguay. (Norberto Duarte/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 27, 2013: Students perform a scene from the Stations of the Cross commemorating Jesus Christ’s last hours during Holy Week celebrations in Luque, Paraguay. (Norberto Duarte/AFP/Getty Images)

: March 27, 2013: The “miraculous” Ta’ Giezu (of Jesus) crucifix is carried during the Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross, during Holy Week in Valletta. Legend has it that in 1630, the artist Fra Umile had racked his brains to try and depict Christ at his greatest hour of pain, but while he slept the head of Christ was completed by an angel. (Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters)

The cross-bearers of Christian Holy Week

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