Good Friday

The cultural differences alluded to here are striking. The Catholicism of my youth situates the Stations of the Cross within the church, so that the focus is unambiguously on Christ's suffering. Taking the Stations of the Cross to the streets and visiting a jail, a homeless shelter and so forth links Christ's suffering with the suffering of everyday humans, as the first of these quotes points out. That's fair enough: as Paul Griffiths says, Christ's sufferings represent the sufferings of all humankind. The situation gets a little more complex when the Pope's suffering is taken as a symbol of Christ's suffering, which is itself symbolic of our own... in a nesting of symbols... as in this excerpt from an article in today's LA Times:

The pope is using the final chapter of his life as a parable for the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics. He wants his public suffering to convey the value of human life, even in its decline. Especially during the time Christians recall the crucifixion of Jesus, the church is emphasizing the symbolic parallels between the pope's ordeal and that of Christ — an analogy John Paul and his aides have been keen to make. ... "The cross of Christ neither depresses nor weakens," [Cardinal] Ruini told thousands of worshipers gathered in a sun-bathed St. Peter's Square. "On the contrary, from it comes ever new energy, energy that shines forth in the deeds of saints and that has made the history of the church fruitful. Energy that stands out particularly clearly today in the fatigued face of the Holy Father."

Tracy Wilkinson, Holy Week Marked by an Absence, LA Times, March 25, 2005

And using the liturgical imitation of Christ's passion as a form of penitence calibrated to the severity of an offence (in the second quote, to the length of time a policeman has been absent without leave)... That brings us closer to the Penitentes of New Mexico, the piercings of the Sun Dance, of Kataragama.