Good Friday in Mexico

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April 12, 2009 Washington Post

The Latin American tradition is to stage a Passion play on Good Friday. This is especially true in Mexico where hundreds of communities have their own. Iztapalapa, a poor neighborhood in Mexico City, has the most elaborate in the country.

From the Washington Post article:

The Passion play as performed in Iztapalapa is intense and emotional. Jesus is kicked, beaten, whipped and covered in blood, with a cinematic reality. And Mary's cries stir the people in the crowds, who perhaps cannot help but think not only of the suffering of Jesus but also of their own.

As the Jesus character makes his way up the hill, he frequently stumbles, and the throngs moan along with him. When Judas reaches the top of the hill, he skulks away and then is seen hanging from a tree, a re-creation of his suicide out of guilt.

Then comes the sound, over the loudspeakers, of nails being driven into hard wood, and though there are hundreds of thousands of people on the hill, it grows very quiet. Jesus is hoisted aloft, and he looks out over the gathering, over Mexico City, and shouts: "Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do!" and many in the audience are weeping.

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