The ecumenical Palm Sunday Way of the Cross, unique in Hungary this year, will be organized with prayer, poetry and song in Debrecen – the organizers announced at a press conference in the memorial garden cafe behind the Great Reformed Church.
Mayor László Papp (Fidesz-KDNP) said that the Way of the Cross was first organized in 2012 in preparation for Easter, and from 2017, the program became an urban Way of the Cross, which “addresses all church organizations and city residents”.
This year, the crossroads has several topicalities, on the one hand, it carries the message of peace, and on the other hand, in connection with this year’s Theater Olympics, it promotes the power of unity with the participation of actors from several cities, said the mayor.
Ferenc Palánki, the Roman Catholic bishop of Debrecen-Nyiregyháza, said that the way of the cross is the way of life, that Christ undertook this way for us, the cross, and that the end of the way is not Golgotha, but the resurrection.
Lajos Püski, the chief clerical clerk of the Tiszántúli Reformed Church District, spoke about the anticipation before Easter, followed by the “great celebration of meeting God”.
János Terdik, the pastoral vicar of the Greek-Catholic Archdiocese of Hajdúdorog, spoke about the Lent before Easter, during which “we purify ourselves by practicing penance”.
It was announced at the press conference that the Palm Sunday procession will start in front of the Great Reformed Church in Debrecen, where there will also be a blessing ceremony, and then the participants of the procession will reach St. Anne’s Cathedral through several stations.
The actors invited to the service of the Cross – in connection with the 10th Theater Olympiad, which runs from Easter to Midsummer – come from the theaters of the cities hosting the main locations of the world meeting – Budapest, Debrecen, Győr, Miskolc, Veszprém.
The event strengthens the connection between theater art and the sacred holiday because the symbol of the 10th Theater Olympiad is the ark, which also appears as a central motif in the Bible. The ark, which is a symbol of the preservation and saving of values both in the secular and the ecclesiastical sense, was announced at the press conference.
MTI
