{"id":184948,"date":"2026-04-03T22:53:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T22:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/184948\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T22:53:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T22:53:36","slug":"diocese-of-brooklyn-good-friday-way-of-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/184948\/","title":{"rendered":"Diocese of Brooklyn Good Friday Way of the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"A cross leads pilgrims across the Brooklyn Bridge during the Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday, April 3, as hundreds of faithful walk in prayer from the Cathedral Basilica of St. James into Lower Manhattan. (Photos: Jessica Meditz)<\/p>\n

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN \u2014 For many\u00a0participating in the Way of the Cross\u00a0over\u00a0the\u00a0Brooklyn\u00a0Bridge\u00a0on Good Friday<\/a>, the\u00a0procession\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0simply\u00a0a\u00a0tradition \u2014 it\u00a0meant\u00a0taking steps toward Christ.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0important for me to\u00a0participate\u00a0because I can take what I believe, turn it into\u00a0reality,\u00a0and live it. To take this abstract claim about what Good Friday\u00a0is and turn it into something tangible,\u201d said\u00a0Nicholas\u00a0Arcati, a Staten Island resident and member of Communion and Liberation, the Catholic lay movement that has organized the procession since 1996.\u00a0\u201cThis is what we live for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hundreds of Catholics and Greek Orthodox Christians\u00a0came together at the\u00a0Cathedral Basilica of St.\u00a0James\u00a0on April 3\u00a0to begin the pilgrimage into Lower Manhattan\u00a0with the first Station of the Cross.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Bishop Robert Brennan and Archbishop Ronald Hicks speak to the media ahead of the Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday, April 3.<\/p>\n

Bishop Robert\u00a0Brennan, who was there\u00a0to\u00a0greet them with\u00a0Archbishop\u00a0Ronald\u00a0Hicks<\/a>\u00a0of New York,\u00a0reflected\u00a0on the significance of\u00a0this\u00a0time of\u00a0year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is\u00a0a time of tremendous grace,\u201d\u00a0Bishop Brennan\u00a0said. \u201cWe are living in a world that\u2019s longing for peace, longing for unity,\u00a0and\u00a0for us Christians, it\u2019s what you remember when our Holy Father keeps\u00a0telling us, in the one Christ, we are all one\u00a0when we\u2019re looking for\u00a0all of\u00a0those other things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Archbishop Hicks, the experience was his first as archbishop\u00a0of\u00a0New York.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my first time [to Brooklyn], and to do so in the spirit of unity and of prayer and togetherness, it\u2019s\u00a0the perfect setting,\u201d Archbishop Hicks said. \u201cWe are reminded\u00a0that\u00a0we not only walk with each other\u00a0\u2026 but Jesus is walking with us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Archbishop Hicks said a record number of people are joining the Catholic Church this year, adding that\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0much like the bystanders on the bridge that joined the procession.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to see an increase in that,\u201d he said. \u201cJesus is the way to truth in life and salvation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Bishop Robert Brennan Washes Feet of 12 During Mass of the Lord\u2019s Supper in Brooklyn<\/a><\/p>\n

Tian Wu is among those preparing to enter the Church\u00a0this year, set to be baptized during the Easter Vigil in the Diocese of Brooklyn.\u00a0Walking the Way of the Cross helped her better understand the meaning of Christ\u2019s death\u00a0and the new life she will soon enter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0participated\u00a0in Easter Mass before, but I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0fully understand what was happening,\u201d she said. \u201cThis year, I was introduced to the true meaning \u2014 the resurrection of Jesus and new life.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a very nice\u00a0feeling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Bishop Robert Brennan delivers a Gospel reflection during the first Station\u00a0of the Cross\u00a0at the Good Friday Way of the Cross procession on April 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Jenna\u00a0Abazia, the public witness of faith on Good Friday is part of a much deeper return to Christ.\u00a0After years away from the Church and struggling with addiction, she said she turned back to God at her lowest point and found a sense of peace she\u00a0hadn\u2019t\u00a0known before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized\u00a0he was always there,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was me that was turning my back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now an usher at the Cathedral Basilica of St.\u00a0James\u00a0and preparing to become a lector,\u00a0Abazia\u00a0said she feels called to live her faith openly\u00a0to inspire others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople need to know that we haven\u2019t forgotten what Jesus has done for us,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cSometimes, someone else\u2019s testimony can be the thing that helps another person come back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: A Flippin\u2019 Success: Diocese of Brooklyn Sees Rise in People Joining the Faith<\/a><\/p>\n

Bishop Brennan\u00a0gave three more Gospel reflections during the pilgrimage, which continued through Lower Manhattan and ended at\u00a0Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After being welcomed by Bishop Nektarios of\u00a0Diokleia, national chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,\u00a0Bishop Brennan thanked all in attendance for their\u00a0public display of\u00a0faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYour witness to the people of New York on both sides of the river\u00a0is a powerful sign of your faith in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen,\u201d he\u00a0said. \u201cFor 30 years, this\u00a0[procession]\u00a0has given us the privilege to walk with Christ in a tangible\u00a0and palpable\u00a0way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Good Friday observances continued in the Diocese of Brooklyn with the\u00a0Commemoration of the Lord\u2019s Passion at the Cathedral Basilica of St.\u00a0James.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A cross leads pilgrims across the Brooklyn Bridge during the Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-184948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}