This Good Friday, many Sunset Park residents put their fear aside and joined in faith at a Stations of the Cross that began at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help between Fifth Avenue and 59th Street.
“Well, the truth fills me with joy, doing this now from the heart,” said Timoteo Escobar.
“I have suffered a lot and with his help I am here, present with him because he is bigger than us,” added Patricia Osorio.
Osorio.
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This walk is an act of devotion performed by Catholics to represent the passion and death of Jesus Christ along the path to Calvary.
It is estimated that at least two thousand people participated in the tour of 14 stops.
This despite the fear that was impregnated among the residents after several people were injured after a shooting at the 36th Street train station, very close to where this walk takes place.
But after the capture of the shooter, Father Santiago Gilmour says the community feels safer.
“Because of that we feel safe enough to make our way and it shows by the number of people who are present,” said the priest.
Some neighbors told us that their faith was greater than the fear of being attacked, but they still remained vigilant.
“And with our eyes wide open because unfortunately the situation, we are calm because they have already caught the person but we are trusting in God that nothing is going to happen if God wants it,” said Rosa Ortega.
Muñoz.
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“Still afraid but always entrusting ourselves to God,” added Alicia Muñoz.
And it is that this way of the cross has not been carried out since 2019 to avoid contagion among the parishioners.
And last year the Diocese of Brooklyn asked churches in the area to hold this event inside the church with fewer people than usual for the good of the community.
“We feel that we are freer, healthier, with more strength to be able to move forward, that covid was not everything, that Jesus is the winner,” said another parishioner.
Unlike before the pandemic, the Stations of the Cross ended outside the basilica to maintain physical distance between participants.
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