For decades, Erick Rodriguez held a death wish.

He witnessed his mother being killed by a young relative who accidentally shot her while handling a gun. Only 5 when it happened in Michoacán, Mexico, Rodriguez was nearly orphaned after the tragedy — heartbroken, his father plunged into depression and alcoholism while the boy bounced from home to home, bullied and beaten by new classmates wherever he went.

Growing into a brooding introvert, Rodriguez dreamed and plotted many ways of murdering and getting revenge. But when he saw a neighborhood Passion Play — a reenactment of the trial and death of Christ — in a Santa Rosa, California, parish church, he wept hard tears and forgave his mother’s killer.

Now, 13 years after he credits the performed Via Crucis for showing him the way of forgiveness, Rodriguez, 39, is directing a play at Santa Rosa’s Resurrection Church, the same place where he saw the reenactment and found solace. He thinks — no — he knows that the simple Holy Week production, made up of local volunteer actors, will do many people good.

“Christ was innocent, but he was human, like us. He suffered humiliations, mockery, being spat on. Even then, he would say, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,’ Rodriguez said. “That teaches us that no matter how difficult things may be, we must keep forgiving those people who try to harm us. We must carry that message of love to others, because that is what is needed.”

Passion Plays Worldwide

Perhaps the most famous production is the one held in Oberammergau, a German town of just over 5,000 residents in Bavaria, where the amateur cast reenacts every 10 years the last days of Jesus in a lavish production that rivals many high-budget pieces. In the U.S., the St. John’s Passion Play in Cincinnati, billed as the “oldest continuing Passion Play in the U.S.,” has been going strong since 1918. 

In New York, Communion and Liberation will lead The Way of the Cross, a Via Crucis over the Brooklyn Bridge for the 30th year, spokesman Domenic Canale said. In the same vein but not strictly a Passion Play, the striking procession over one of Gotham’s quintessential landmarks is set to start at 10 a.m. on Good Friday.

“Catholicism is not meant only for Sunday, but for everyday life,” Canale said, explaining the main takeaway of the upcoming event. “I think it’s important to begin to understand the world around us and the wars in light of the cross. Evil and suffering is not the final word in this world, even though it seems so ever-present: The final word is love and a God who resurrected from the dead.”

In some countries of Latin America, Passion Plays are an intrinsic part of Catholicism and the culture. In Iztapalapa, a working-class community on the outskirts of Mexico City, a production that dates back 183 years has just gained UNESCO recognition and is expected to draw 2 million visitors on Good Friday.

Smaller Passion Plays like the one Rodriguez is directing, and larger productions that draw throngs, date back to the early Middle Ages. In the U.S., in cities like San Antonio, a traditional Passion Play in Spanish has been going strong since the 1980s, with up to 22,000 in attendance as the event is held in front of San Fernando Cathedral. (The drama is set for this Good Friday at 10 a.m.; you can watch it live here.)

Most of these dramas have been mainly popular in ethnic Catholic churches, and now they survive in many communities with Latino immigrants. But others have gone beyond the barrios, like the New York City-based Xavier Company, which has professional actors and singers scheduled to perform in churches and other venues in the Tri-State area.

In Appleton, Wisconsin, All Rise!, the Northeast Wisconsin Passion Play, will take place March 26-29. A video sampling of the event may be seen here.

A Legacy of Blood, Through Time and Space

Filipinos, like Latinos, share a keen sensibility for Passion Plays and devotions, said Aaron Laserna, the Filipino-American filmmaker who directed and produced Senakulo, a documentary short that will be screened in New York City on March 28. The artistic film centers on Ruben Enaje, a street painter who was crucified with real nails as he portrayed Christ for decades.

Laserna readily admits that the bloodied penitents in the Philippines who scourge themselves during processions on Good Friday, or actors like Enaje, clash head-on with the more sanitized, bloodless Holy Week services held in U.S. churches. But in his gutsy, visceral yet moving film, that’s the point, he said.

“It just doesn’t feel reflective of the world that we live in and the things that we go through individually. I don’t shy away from showing difficult things because I think it’s important for us to confront them,” Laserna said. “I think in a Filipino context, I have a different relationship, like when I go to church. When I’ve been to Mass in the Philippines versus Mass in America, it’s a completely different experience.”

Big or small, Passion Plays go beyond just reading the gospel to people, said Timothy Matovina, a Notre Dame professor who specializes in Catholic and U.S. Latino theology. In fact, he adds that the performances, especially among Hispanics, can become an “anamnesis” — a sacred memory that calls to mind the realities of the Last Supper, just as it was 2,000 years ago.

“A lot of times I go to the ones in Chicago, you blink your eyes and you don’t know — ‘Am I back now in a small village in Mexico where people used to do this? Am I in Chicago in 2026? Or am I back in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago?’ For most Latinos, the answer is yes,” Matovina said. 

For Rodriguez, the director of the Santa Rosa Passion Play, this will be his last year as a director. No matter; his mission of sending the message of God’s love has been accomplished.

“The message is this: Despite all the harm we may cause because of modernism and rationalism, God’s love is greater: He still waits for us with open arms,” Rodriguez said. “We must follow his example, no matter how difficult things have been. Forgive and never pay back evil with evil. Evil is overcome with good.”