A year ago, public events commemorating Good Friday were curtailed by the citywide curfew in Cincinnati following riots and racial unrest.

The Revs. Angelo Puopolo, (from left), Al Brown and Jerry Murphy will lead the “Way of Calvary — A Walk for Healing and Reconciliation” Friday. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        This year, those rites have been expanded.

        On Friday, thousands of faithful will climb the steps of a Mount Adams church, walk the streets of downtown and other communities, and gather in churches to observe the anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

        One of the new events is the “Way of Calvary — A Walk for Healing and Reconciliation” through Walnut Hills.

        “What we're doing might not have been done without what happened last year,” Pastor Jerry Murphy, a co-organizer, said Wednesday. “So it's special in that sense.”

        Ten churches will participate in the walk, which begins 5 p.m. Friday at McMillan Street and Gilbert Avenue — where rioting and looting occurred last year. It will continue at local sites of fatal shootings in the past year.

        Participants will pray, read Scripture, and tell the stories of the lives lost at each site.

GOOD FRIDAY

Climbing the stairs     From midnight tonight until midnight on Good Friday, thousands of people will climb the steps to Holy Cross-Immaculata Church as they pray, many of them reciting the rosary. The church at Pavilion and Guido streets, Mount Adams, will be open midnight to midnight. Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Good Friday. Forest Park walk     At 6 p.m. Friday, members of churches in Forest Park, Springdale and Green Hills will walk from Quinn Chapel AME Church, 10998 Southland Rd., Forest Park, to Forest Chapel United Methodist Church, 680 W. Sharon Rd., for a 7 p.m. Good Friday service. Way of the Cross     At noon Friday, the 19th annual Way of the Cross/Way of Justice procession begins at Fountain Square and concludes in Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine. Way of Calvary     At 5 p.m. Friday, “The Way of Calvary — A Walk for Healing and Reconciliation” begins in the Kroger parking lot at McMillan and Gilbert streets, Walnut Hills. Church services     Christian churches will hold Good Friday services, prayer vigils and joint, ecumenical observances throughout the day. For information, call individual churches.

        The 143-year-old tradition of praying and climbing the hillside steps to Holy Cross-Immaculata Church in Mount Adams will resume its midnight to midnight hours, beginning tonight.

        The stone church overlooking the Ohio River will be open for prayer from midnight to midnight and church members will serve coffee and doughnuts from 6 a.m. to noon, as well as a fish fry from 2:30-6:30 p.m.

        Masses are at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

        At Quinn Chapel AME Church in Forest Park, the Rev. Dr. Taylor T. Thompson will lead several hundred people on a 6 p.m. walk to nearby Forest Chapel United Methodist Church for a 7 p.m. Good Friday service. The ecumenical observance includes churches from Springdale, Greenhills and Forest Park.

        “The local situation just reminds us of how far we need to go for justice, and to be a true community,” the Rev. Dr. Thompson said.

        “God understands what's going on in our lives,” he said. “What's happened over the past year, there's a number of events that have brought us together.”

        Last year, the Rev. Dr. Thompson spoke at the Fountain Square Interfaith Prayers for Our City, sponsored by the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati.

        Area churches have scheduled all-day prayer vigils, services spanning the hours of noon to 3 p.m., marking the time Jesus hung on the cross, or evening services.

        Downtown, the 19th annual Way of the Cross/Way of Justice procession begins at noon at Fountain Square and ends in Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine. Along the way, participants will stop at stations that recognize this year's themes, including third world debt, workers' rights, education, homelessness, hate crime violence and the death penalty.

        “It's always important,” said participant Pastor Steve Van Kuiken of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church. “Sometimes the events of the year help us focus on that.”

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