Mexico City’s massive Passion Play reopens to the public after two years of closed events

courthousenews.com ^ | 4/16/2022 | CODY COPELAND

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Authorities said that attendance matched pre-pandemic numbers: as many as 1.5 million visitors crowded into the streets of the capital’s Iztapalapa borough to witness the spectacle.

Five years ago Alejandro made a promise he had to keep. So on Good Friday he joined the ranks of pious residents of the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa in bearing a literal cross to show his devotion to the vow he made.

The Covid-19 pandemic put his promise on hold the last two years, but this year Good Friday events in Iztapalapa were reopened to the public. He and dozens of others who make this burdened trek are known as the Nazarenos (Nazarenes).

Wearing a crown of thorns on his head and no shoes on his feet, the 22-year-old made regular stops to switch shoulders and catch his breath. His cross measured almost 20 feet long and weighed over 150 pounds.

While the promise he kept was too personal to talk about, Alejandro has another reason he performs his pious act: the birth of his now 3-year-old daughter.

“There were complications in the pregnancy, and I told God that if he brought her into this world healthy, I would do this pledge until she was 10 years old,” he said as sweat poured down his face.

Some, like Hiriam Palma, do it to thank God for helping them make difficult life changes like quitting alcohol and drugs.

“I asked God for strength to stop, and now every year I come out to pay him back,” said Palma, 26, now eight years clean.

Others, like 17-year-old first-timer Juan Carlos, do it to ask God to keep their families safe and healthy.

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That all is extremely Spanish. Nearly the same thing all week here in Salamanca,i
including barefoot penitents carrying crosses. The big difference is Mexico City is huge.