Marchers carry wooden cross to places of oppression
TORONTO, ON—Hundreds of people marched through Toronto's busy downtown core on Good Friday to celebrate how Jesus destroyed the bonds of injustice and alienation.
For over 30 years, The Ecumenical Good Friday Walk for Justice has brought together churches and ecumenical organizations to re-enact Jesus' walk to the cross while emphasizing the ways in which people are dehumanized today.
The march began at the Church of the Holy Trinity, tucked beside Toronto's largest shopping Mecca, the Eaton Centre. In a packed sanctuary, people read the biblical account of Jesus' trial and execution while musician Kenny Kirkwood punctuated the story with evocative music he created using instruments and common household items.
"This is what it feels like to be a peace warrior," said Kirkwood, who found the experience of following the cross through the city both "awkward and peaceful."
Maneuvering his way around shoppers, Kirkwood reflected that there is something profound in "the simplicity of just taking a walk." He hopes it will spur people to "spiritual action and to find the courage to move with love, to do what's right, to treat each other kindly."
As the march passed a Starbucks, a well-dressed couple on their way from the Anglican cathedral remarked that the dressed-down crowd didn't "look like a church group."
Cindy Bourgeois carried the cross. "The cross is very important because it recalls Jesus' journey, and [his fight] against the powers of injustice and oppression," she said.
Philipine Advocacy Through Arts and Culture (PATAC) sponsored the first station. There a group of children between the ages of six and 12 acted out some of the challenges many new immigrants to Canada face, reminding the crowd that Jesus too was a migrant.
Pauline Corpuz, director of PATAC, says it's ironic that Canada's immigration policies are weighted in favour of professional status and higher education, but those very qualifications are often deemed meaningless by Canadian professional bodies. An immigrant doctor who attends her church was forced to take an entry level job in a restaurant because her medical degree and experience wouldn't qualify her for a job in the Canadian medical system.
"Unemployment is not just an issue that affects immigrants," she says. "People are unable to use their God-given skills."
At Salvation Army Gateway, a drop-in centre for adults experiencing homelessness, director Dion Oxford gathered the marchers in a parking lot. He pointed to the homeless shelter on their left and the huge block of condos to their right. It's a "microcosm of all that is wrong with Toronto," he said. "Toronto is for sale for the highest bidder." Oxford compared the cost of purchasing a condo with what someone on social assistance receives.
As Oxford read about how new developments are pushing the poor out of Toronto, actors stood within rope outlines representing the amount of space Toronto has allotted for those with low incomes. The rope circle shrank until it literally wrapped around the actors. They were then led onto the roof and crucified. Several people in the crowd begin to cry.
Bob Paterson-Watt, pastor of Woodbine Heights Baptist Church and a member of the core group that organized the walk, was one of those crucified in the drama.
"The goal is to acknowledge the places in the world where people are being crucified," Paterson-Watt said. "People who, like Jesus, are being moved out of the way."
The parade moved on to Foodshare, a food justice organization. Here an urban dweller and a farmer discussed access to local food and highlighted the barriers facing local farmers. Back at the church, the march wrapped up with a presentation by L'Arche, a worldwide network of faith-based communities for those with developmental disabilities. L'Arche presenters strung a web of red strings across the room to represent the connections between people in communities. They then began breaking them to symbolize the ways in which people are destroying those connections, causing alienation and disenfranchisement.
"It's important to take it to the streets," says Paterson-Watt. "Because there are all sorts of places where Jesus' followers today are confronting the powers that oppress and diminish the dignity of others."
Ken Barker, also one of the event organizers, points out the challenge of maneuvering the march around the crowds. "I was blown away by the immensity of the crowds—people shopping, parking, watching entertainment. It was hard to get where we needed to be."
"Our time is no different than the time of Christ," Kirkwood says. "A hundred years ago the churches would be full today. Now the malls are full."
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