04.04.2015
Archbishops Remember Christians of the Middle East at Good Friday Walk of Witness
The Church of Ireland and Catholic Archbishops of Dublin urged people to remember Christians in the Middle East as they reflected on the cross this Easter.
Speaking in Christ Church Cathedral during the short service of prayer before the annual Good Friday Walk of Witness, Archbishop Michael Jackson said that the cross was much more than just a symbol. He said that while they were free to carry the cross through the streets of Dublin Christians in the Middle East faced terror and persecution because of their beliefs. He stressed the importance of walking with the cross as a joint act of public witness and in solidarity with Christians around the world.
Delivering the blessing at the end of the service during which he read the Gospel, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin echoed these sentiments and added that they must also remember and pray for the people of Dublin and the difficulties many in the city faced.
The Archbishops were joined by several hundred people last night as they carried the Taizé cross on the two kilometre journey across the city from Christ Church Cathedral to St Mary’s Pro Cathedral. There they joined a Taizé prayer service.
The fine evening meant that the city’s streets were crowded with onlookers with many stopping to take photos and selfies as the procession passed.
Throughout Dublin and Glendalough parishes joined to mark Good Friday in many ways.
In the afternoon there was an ecumenical Way of the Cross in Enniskerry. Congregations from the local Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic parishes walked behind the cross from St Mary’s Church to St Patrick’s Church pausing in the centre of the village. The walk took place in the context of a dramatised reading of the Passion.
There are photos from the Good Friday Walk of Witness in Dublin and from processions in Greystones, Rathdrum, Bray and Enniskerry on the Dublin and Glendalough Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/DublinandGlendalough or just click on the Facebook button at the top of this website.
Photo captions:
Top: Archbishop Michael Jackson and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin lead the Good Friday Walk of Witness down Dame Street with Christ Church Cathedral in the background.
Bottom – Two young women take a selfie as the procession approaches along O’Connell Street.