Hundreds mark Good Friday with procession, prayers at University of Manitoba

Hundreds gathered at the University of Manitoba campus on Friday morning to take part in an yearly Good Friday tradition.

The 35th annual Public Way of the Cross — a two-kilometre procession hosted by a different parish in the Catholic archdiocese of Winnipeg each year — was held at St. Paul's College. It's the first time the event has been held at a university campus, one of its organizers said.

"It's our chance to show to the Manitoba community that we're here," said Christopher Adams, the rector of St. Paul's College, a Catholic higher educational institution located at the U of M, on Thursday.

The event, which the archdiocese estimated drew approximately 2,000 people, started with song, prayer and speeches in front of a crowd at a packed Christ the King Chapel at the college.

Worshippers then began the walk, led by Archbishop of Winnipeg Richard Gagnon, who helped carry the roughly two-metre-long wooden cross for the first portion of the procession. They stopped to pray at different stations, each representing a different part of Jesus's journey to his crucifixion and being laid in a tomb.

Catholic parishes around the world mark Good Friday with Stations of the Cross, where people can stop and pray, Adams said.

"There's a little bit of a feeling of a pilgrimage, that you're walking to a destination," he said.

"There's a sense of community."

Johnny Ortizo, who is with the Catholic organization Knights of Columbus, said he's been going to the public Way of the Cross marches for about five years.

"We commemorate the passion, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ," he said during the walk.

"It's one way of sharing our Christian faith."

WATCH | Hundreds mark Good Friday with procession:

Father Mark Filips, the chaplain at St. Paul's College, said the school has organized Way of the Cross walks for its students before, "but nothing of this scale."

"It's an incredible feeling," he said.