Mocked, flogged, crucified: Jesus' last day on Earth marked in live Stations of the Cross

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Knoxville Catholic High School.

Jesus Christ was crucified Friday atop a West Knoxville hill next to a tennis court and buried in a pretend tomb near a high school athletic field.

His Good Friday death and burial was re-enacted by 200 actors in robes, headscarves and the armor of Roman soldiers. The event, marked through the religious observance of the Stations of the Cross, drew 350 to 400 followers on foot and slowed Cedar Bluff Road vehicle traffic to a crawl.

Flogged, mocked and weary from dragging a cross along All Saints Catholic parish's grounds and asphalt exercise track, 17-year-old Carlos Ortiz followed Jesus' last hours on earth in the dramatic, yet tender, 90-minute service.

Stations of the Cross mark Jesus' last day

This was the seventh consecutive Stations of the Cross service by the parish's Hispanic community. The crowd of onlookers, along with the costumed actors, followed Ortiz's cross-bearing Christ on the parish grounds fronting Cedar Bluff Road. 

The Stations of the Cross are a 14-step devotion marking events from Jesus Christ's last day, from his condemnation by Pontius Pilate to his crucifixion between two thieves, to supporters placing his body in a borrowed tomb. The steps with prayers and Scriptures include Jesus' faltering with the cross three times, his moments with his mother Mary and his death on the cross. 

Loudspeakers fastened to a golf cart provided the sound for the service's narrative spoken in Spanish and English. Actors dressed as Roman soldiers performed double duty as 21st-century traffic monitors, keeping the crowd back by using their swords as portable barriers around the actors. 

While the actors spoke Spanish, understanding the language wasn't necessary to understand their story. Soon, Ortiz's white robe was stained with fake blood from the whips which actor-soldiers used to strike him. People in blue jeans and in biblical robes used their cell phones to photograph and film parts of the service.

Children climbed trees to watch the crucifixion atop a hill lent to All Saints by neighboring Sunchase Apartments. The service ended around a pretend tomb nestled in the parish garden to the Virgin Mary and down a slope from the Knoxville Catholic High School athletic practice field. 

Live drama is Hispanic tradition

The All Saints event was one of several held by East Tennessee Hispanic Catholics. Such live presentations are an important part of their faith, said All Saints pastor Miguel Velez. The performance recalls similar dramatizations held in Hispanic countries, he said. 

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With some 2,000 families and 5,000 members, All Saints is the largest parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville. The parish's Hispanic community has been preparing for the Stations of the Cross dramatization nine months, said Michael Woods, a pastor at All Saints.

Two hours before Pilate, played by Dimas Alvarenga, condemned Ortiz's Jesus to death outside the parish hall, the hall's interior was filled with people, food and costumes. A suitcase holding the whips to flog Christ rested next to a half-gallon plastic container of theatrical fake blood. Racks held rows of robes for adults and children. Outside, young boys, some dressed as Roman soldiers, played.  

Friday was the first time Ortiz, a Karns High School student, has played Jesus. He acted as a Roman solider and then Christ's disciple John in past Stations of the Cross events. Ortiz also participates in Karns' theater program. This year, he'll play a very different king in the school's Cinderella production.

On this day, his mother, Reyna Ortiz, plays the role of the Virgin Mary. "It is very special to represent the mother of God," she says. 

"The tears you see are not an act. It is real because everyone is feeling it," said Zoraida Ballew, a lifelong Catholic who portrayed a resident of Jerusalem.

The Stations of the Cross "Is not only a representation," Velez said. "It is a commemoration of what Jesus did for us — his suffering, his passion and his sorrow. But we remember not just the tragedy. We remember what we are going to celebrate in a couple of days — Easter and the joy of the resurrection."