Pope Francis lies down in prayer during the Good Friday Passion of Christ Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 14, 2017. Pope Francis began the Good Friday service at the Vatican with the Passion of Christ Mass and hours later will go to the ancient Colosseum in Rome for the traditional Way of the Cross procession.
Moises Castillo, The Associated Press
La Escuela de Cristo Catholic Church penitents carry a statue of Virgin Mary in an afternoon procession through the streets of Antigua, Guatemala, Friday, April 14, 2017. Hundreds of processions take place throughout Guatemala during the Holy Week.
Moises Castillo, The Associated Press
La Escuela de Cristo Catholic Church penitents burn incense during an afternoon procession through the streets of Antigua, Guatemala, Friday, April 14, 2017. Hundreds of processions take place throughout Guatemala during the Holy Week.
Jorge Saenz, The Associated Press
A Catholic faithful group of "Estacioneros" sing during Good Friday celebrations in "Tanarandy" town, south of Asuncion, Paraguay, Friday, April 14, 2017. This celebration of Holy Week is an expression of syncretism between local culture and catholic traditions.
Jorge Saenz, The Associated Press
Thousands of faithful Catholics of Paraguay participate in a "Tanarandy" town procession, south of Asuncion, Paraguay, Friday, April 14, 2017. This celebration of Good Friday is an expression of syncretism between local culture and catholic traditions.
Jorge Saenz, The Associated Press
Catholic faithful of Paraguay carry a Virgin statue in a "Tanarandy" town procession, south of Asuncion, Paraguay, Friday, April 14, 2017. This celebration of Good Friday is an expression of syncretism between local culture and catholic traditions.
Juan Karita, The Associated Press
A makeshift tent is pitched on a mound of sand at the Arenal de Cochiraya, during Holy Week celebrations on the outskirts of Oruro, Bolivia, Friday, April 14, 2017. Two hundred artists gathered for the annual Good Friday event in the highland region, building sand sculptures based on the parables of Jesus Christ.
Marco Ugarte, The Associated Press
People reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ during Holy Week celebrations on a hill outside the village of San Mateo, some 50 km. north of Mexico City, Mexico, Friday, April 14, 2017. Holy Week commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Christ culminating in his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Marco Ugarte, The Associated Press
A local resident poses for a portrait dressed as a Roman soldier before participating in a reenactment of the Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, in the village of San Mateo, some 50 km north of Mexico City, Mexico, Friday, April 14, 2017. Holy Week commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ culminating in his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Eraldo Peres, The Associated Press
Doused with fake blood, Jose Dagmar, who plays the role of Jesus Christ in the annual Good Friday event that re-enacts Jesus' last days on Earth, rests inside Our Lady of Rosario church in the historical city of Pirenopolis, Brazil, Friday, April 14, 2017. Christians all over the world attend mock crucifixions and passion plays that mark the day Jesus was crucified, known to Christians as Good Friday.
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
Penitents participate in a Holy Week procession on Good Friday in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, Friday, April 14, 2017. Millions worldwide take part in mock crucifixions and passion plays that mark Jesus Christ's last day on Earth, known to Christians as Good Friday.
(AP Photo/Luis Soto)
Juan Karita, The Associated Press
Artists works on a sand sculpture depicting Jesus Christ, during Holy Week celebrations in Arenal de Cochiraya, on the outskirts of Oruro, Bolivia, Friday, April 14, 2017. Two hundred artists gathered for the annual Good Friday event in the highland region, building sand sculptures based on the parables of Jesus.
Eraldo Peres, The Associated Press
Parishioners take part in the Good Friday reenactment of Jesus' final hours in the historical city of Pirenopolis, state of Goias, Brazil, Friday, April 14, 2017. Christians all over the world attend ceremonies that mark the day Jesus Christ was crucified, known as Good Friday.
Eraldo Peres, The Associated Press
Portraying Jesus Christ, an actor reenacts a fall by Jesus Christ, in the traditional Good Friday procession, or the Stations of the Cross in Pirenopolis, Brazil, Friday, April 14, 2017. Millions worldwide attend mock crucifixions and passion plays that mark the day Jesus Christ was crucified, known to Christians as Good Friday.
Eraldo Peres, The Associated Press
A child actor watches as Jesus Christ is condemned before Pontius Pilate in the annual Good Friday event that re-enacts Jesus' last days on Earth, in the historical city of Pirenopolis, Brazil, Friday, April 14, 2017. Christians all over the world attend mock crucifixions and passion plays that mark the day Jesus was crucified, known to Christians as Good Friday.
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
Couples dance after arriving at the summit of mount Calvaire Miracle, where thousands of Haitians flock as a form of penance during a Good Friday ritual that is among the country’s largest annual pilgrimages, in Ganthier, Haiti, Friday, April 14, 2017. People appeal for blessings and pray for a peaceful country. Some raise their passports to heaven pleading for visas. Others pray for a loving relationship or cures for ailments.
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
Parishioners reenact Jesus Christ's final hours during the a Good Friday event in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, April 14, 2017. Millions worldwide attend mock crucifixions and passion plays that mark the day Jesus was crucified, known to Christians as Good Friday.
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
Haitians gather at the 14th station of the cross around a man sitting on the horizontal bar of the cross, who they believe has been taken over by a voodoo spirit, during the annual Good Friday pilgrimage to the mount Calvaire Miracle, in Ganthier, Haiti, Friday, April 14, 2017.
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
A woman stretches out her arms in prayer as she balances a stone on her head as a form of penance during a Good Friday ritual, in Ganthier, Haiti, Friday, April 14, 2017. Thousands of Haitians flock to mount Calvaire Miracle, some with rocks balanced on their heads, to pray and seek renewal in one of the spiritually-steeped country’s biggest annual pilgrimages.
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
Thousands of Haitians flock to mount Calvaire Miracle, some with rocks balanced on their heads as form of penance during a Good Friday ritual that is among the country’s largest annual pilgrimages, in Ganthier, Haiti, Friday, April 14, 2017. People appeal for blessings and pray for a peaceful country. Some raise their passports to heaven pleading for visas. Others pray for a loving relationship or cures for ailments.
Rebecca Blackwell, The Associated Press
A penitent rests on his cross after flagellating himself, during a Holy Week procession in Taxco, Mexico, late Thursday, April 13, 2017. In Taxco, Roman Catholic brotherhoods preserve a Holy Week tradition that dates to the 1600's. In processions that last from Thursday evening into the early morning hours of Friday, hooded penitents drag chains and shoulder bundles of thorny branches through the streets, as some flog themselves with nail-studded whips meant to bring them closer to God.
Rebecca Blackwell, The Associated Press
Church groups carry representations of Christ on the cross as they walk in a Holy Week procession in Taxco, Mexico, late Thursday, April 13, 2017. Holy Week commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, culminating in his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Rebecca Blackwell, The Associated Press
Hooded women, known as "encorvadas" or hunchbacks, walk barefoot through the cobblestone streets, dragging chains and carrying crucifixes, during a Holy Week procession in Taxco, Mexico, just after midnight on the morning of Friday, April 14, 2017. Thousands of tourists attend the elaborate Holy Week parades in Taxco, appreciating the traditional processions which date back to 1600's.
Rebecca Blackwell, The Associated Press
A penitent carries a bundle of thorny branches as a Holy Week procession departs from the Santa Prisca Church, in Taxco, Mexico, Thursday, April 13, 2017. In Taxco, Roman Catholic brotherhoods preserve a Holy Week tradition that dates back to the 1600's. In processions that last from Thursday evening into the early morning hours of Friday, hooded penitents drag chains and shoulder the thorny bundles through the streets, as some flog themselves with nail-studded whips meant to bring them closer to God.
(Alberto Pizzoli/Pool Photo via AP
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Pope Francis lies down in prayer during the Good Friday Passion of Christ Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, April 14, 2017. Pope Francis began the Good Friday service at the Vatican with the Passion of Christ Mass and hours later will go to the ancient Colosseum in Rome for the traditional Way of the Cross procession.
GANTHIER, Haiti — Arms raised to the heavens, tens of thousands of Haitians flocked to a craggy hillside to pray and seek renewal in one of the spiritually steeped country’s biggest annual pilgrimages — one of many exuberant expressions of Good Friday devotion across the Americas.
At a hilltop crucifix, some held out passports, pleading for visas, or dog-eared photos of sick relatives. Others prayed for a loving relationship or a steady job while carrying beeswax candles and rosary beads.
Hundreds of thousands of people around Latin America and the Caribbean marked the passion of Jesus Christ in a variety of ways Friday. Penitents carried thorny branches through the streets of Taxco, Mexico and the crucifixion was re-enacted in communities including in the village of San Mateo, north of Mexico City and in Pirenopolis, Brazil.
In the Bolivian community of Arenal de Cochiraya, people created images of the Passion of Christ in sculptures made of sand. Thousands of candles were lit for an evening ceremony in the Paraguayan farm community of Tanarandy, then carried through the darkened streets by faithful Catholics singing hymns.
The participants in the Haiti ritual in the tiny community of Ganthiers marched along a steep, dusty trail with rocks balanced on their heads. When they reached a precipice, they stood at the edge and hurled the stones to symbolically cast away sins.
“I have too much misery, too many problems. I am praying for my deliverance,” said Martin Normile, a long-unemployed father of two teenage children, as he walked slowly with a large stone on his head.
Delano Demosthenes, a teacher from the town of Carrefour, was among those praying for calm when a U.N. stabilization mission concludes in mid-October. The Good Friday pilgrimage comes a day after the U.N. Security Council voted to end a stabilization operation in Haiti after some 13 years, replacing it in October with a smaller mission with police and civilian peacekeepers for an initial period of six months.
“I am praying for a stable, peaceful Haiti. I am worried that when the U.N. leaves there’s going to be trouble here,” he said at one of the white crosses that line the hillside path.
In the Caribbean nation, the Good Friday ritual mixes elements of Catholic ceremonies and evangelical fervor with Voodoo, or Vodou as preferred by Haitians, a religion that evolved in the 17th century when colonists brought slaves to Haiti from West Africa.
