With the traditional Good Friday procession, Christians in Berlin commemorated the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
According to the Evangelical Church District Berlin-Stadtmitte, several hundred people took part in the procession, which led to the Catholic Hedwig’s Cathedral near the Staatsoper Unter den Linden after a service in the Evangelical Church of St. Mary on Alexanderplatz.
The almost three meter high cross at the head of the procession was also carried by the Catholic Archbishop of Berlin, Heiner Koch, and the provost of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, Christina-Maria Bammel.
The focus of the stations of the procession this year was the topic of loneliness as a result of the Ukraine war and the corona pandemic. “We know from pastoral talks how much people suffer from feeling lonely,” explained the superintendent of the evangelical church district, Bertold Höcker. The pandemic has further increased the loneliness. War refugees would have to go through much more extreme experiences of loneliness.
The Good Friday procession has been taking place since 2010, but has had to be canceled for the past two years due to the pandemic. In previous years, several hundred people took part. Traditionally, a cross weighing around 50 kilograms is carried at the head of the procession. Texts are presented at seven stations. The procession is taking place for the eleventh time this year. It was initiated by the Protestant church district of Berlin-Stadtmitte.
