Christians observe Good Friday in Kerala

While churches are gearing up for the Easter celebrations, Christians in India preeminently the southern part of the country celebrated Good Friday with Cross processions and church services.

'The Way of the Cross' processions and church services commemorating the passion and death of Jesus Christ marked the observance of Good Friday in Kerala, which has the largest percentage of Christians in South India.

Among the Pilgrim centers that people thronged in was the famous St Thomas Church in Malayattoor where thousands took part in the processions to the church located atop the hill, carrying wooden crosses.

It is believed that St. Thomas the apostle prayed on this hill and his footprints are engraved in a rock, which is protected here.

Around seven million or more visit this place every year around Good Friday, said the church authority.

In Kozhikode, hundreds of people took part in the 16–km long Way of the Cross at Wayanad Pass across the Western Ghats, praying and singing hymns. This is said to be one of the longest processions of this kind in the world.

"I have been coming here for the last three years regularly. I always carry the cross with me during the pilgrimage, as this gives some kind of an inner spiritual awakening and happiness to me," said a devotee Dinoy P.A, who travelled 80 kilometers barefoot to arrive here for the pilgrimage.

Thiruvanthapuram Archbishop Susaipakiam, addressing a congregation in the state capital urged the believers to remain vigilant against atheism, which is turning people away from the Christian faith.

“What we hear nowadays is the talk of those in authority questioning the existence of God and those who promise heaven on earth without God,” the archbishop said.

The Catholic Church in Kerala accused the State Government led by the Communist Party of India–Maxist (CPI–M) for inculcating atheist ideology in school curriculum.

Christians constitute 22 percent of Kerala’s 32 million people.