Via Crucis crowd fills Santa Maria del Popolo in Mundelein
Mundelein resident Jesus Aguirre says there is something to be learned playing Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who found Jesus wasn't guilty of any crimes but gave into crowd demands and ordered his execution.
Aguirre reflected on the role shortly before taking the stage for a Spanish-language drama that marked Good Friday at Santa Maria del Popolo Catholic Church in Mundelein. He said his participation in Via Crucis was like transporting himself back in time to get a sense of Pilate's thinking.
"I wanted to be Pontius Pilate because you know, the main reason is he knew it (the crucifixion) was wrong," Aguirre said. "He knew it was wrong but he had no choice. He felt the peer pressure."
Common throughout Mexico, the Via Crucis - or Living Stations of the Cross - depicts the final hours of Jesus' life. Santa Maria's production attracted about 1,300 worshippers, many of them families with young children.
Unlike other Chicago-area churches, Santa Maria permanently moved its Via Crucis presentation inside in 2006 because of previous problems with poor weather.
Friday's production at the Mundelein church was the first without parishioner and director Luis Montes, who stepped aside after volunteering since the first Via Crucis there in 1998. Montes' duties were assumed by a committee that included Miguel Correa, who also played Jesus, and Argelia Palma.
Correa said he enjoyed the involvement with all the volunteer actors. Rehearsals for Via Crucis started in January.
"There are a lot of new people, a lot of new persons, so you get involved with everybody," said Correa, who portrayed Jesus in 2013 and 2014. "You just try to get the people to see the person they're going to bring to life. It's real hard, because you've got to get into people's feelings. It's a challenge."
Correa said his preparation to play Jesus benefits his Catechism teaching.
"It helps me because I have to meditate a lot about it," he said. "And you can read the Bible and meditate and put me in the place."
Elsewhere in the suburbs, St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in Palatine held a Via Crucis with a procession that started there and ended at Misión San Juan Diego Parish in Arlington Heights. Most Blessed Trinity Parish in Waukegan also staged Via Crucis.