By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: Archbishop Anil J Couto of Delhi on April 9 led more than 1,200 people in a traditional Way of the Cross that links the old and new sections of the national capital.
The ritual commemorates Jesus carrying the cross from the Palace of Pilot to Calvary where he was crucified on Good Friday.
The archdiocese started the Way of the Cross on Palm Sunday in the Year of Faith that the Universal Church observed from October 11, 2012 to November 23, 2013.
“Since then, we have continued it with tremendous impact on the bystanders,” Father Stanley Kozhichira, editor of The Voice of Delhi, the archdiocesan monthly magazine, told Matters India.
This year the Way of the Cross on Palm Sunday began at 3 pm from St Mary’s Church in Old Delhi and ended at Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi, a distance of 9 kilometers. It passed through crowded streets of Chandni Chauwk and Khari Baoli in Old Delhi and Civic Centre, Connaught Place and Gole Dakhkhana, the iconic circular post office, in New Delhi.
Archbishop Couto urged the participants to donate their eyes. “Make a resolution in this Holy Week to donate your eyes,” the prelate said. The Delhi archdiocese is celebrating 2017 as the Year of Sight in association with Project Vision.
Father Kozhichira said thousands of people, mostly Hindus and Muslims, watched the Way of the Cross lining up the two sides of the streets. The ritual included live enactment of the Passion of Cross on four trailers by various parishes of the archdiocese.
The priest said the participants distributed leaflets about Jesus to the onlookers.
Earlier at the 9 am Mass in the cathedral Archbishop Couto said the Way of the Cross was an opportunity to witness the Christian faith in the capital of the country that passes through difficult times.
The Mass was led by Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro.