Members of Holy Ghost, Sacred Heart, All Saints recreate Jesus’ last days leading to crucifixion
By Bill Brewer
Hollywood deemed it “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” Happy Hollow deemed it worthy of replay in a live production—as did Cedar Bluff.
And so members of Holy Ghost, Sacred Heart and All Saints churches performed the Passion of Christ in Spanish during Holy Week observances in a dramatic reenactment of Jesus’ last days leading to his crucifixion and resurrection.
Some 60 parishioners assumed roles—from members of the crowd calling for Jesus’ crucifixion, Roman guards and chief priests to Jesus and the 12 apostles.
The volunteer actors began planning the reenactment before Lent began in February and practiced their roles two days a week.
As with many community productions, roles were given based on who could regularly attend practice and commit to the Easter week performances.
“With all the practices, there is a lot of sacrifice because those in the production work and have families,” said José Sandoval, an organizer of the reenactment, which is in its second year.
The first reenactment performance began after Holy Thursday Mass, taking place in the basement of Holy Ghost, where the Passion troupe played out the Last Supper and Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. The scenes continued with Jesus betrayed by Judas Iscariot, then appearing before the chief priests and being taken into custody.
The production resumed the morning of Good Friday, with the reenactment taking place during outdoor Stations of the Cross that circled Holy Ghost and was led by Father John Orr.
A repeat performance was given on Good Friday at All Saints Church, with Father Miguel Vélez leading the Stations of the Cross as the drama unfolded.
As the troupe retraced Jesus’ steps during the stations, Erick Rangel of Sacred Heart, portraying Jesus, carried a heavy wooden cross that would suspend him nearly 10 feet off the ground. He was joined by the two thieves, played by Salvador Alexander Soriano of All Saints and Manuel Garcia of Sacred Heart, who also were suspended with Rangel in crucifixion on grass lots at Holy Ghost and All Saints that acted as Golgotha.
Rangel also portrayed Jesus in last year’s performance.
The Knoxville reenactment is similar to ones done at other Diocese of Knoxville parishes such as St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland. They’ve also been done in dioceses across the country as well as around the world.
But unlike reenactments of the Passion of Christ in some other countries, the Knoxville Diocese performances replaced actual nails with padded straps to suspend Jesus and the two thieves, who placed their feet on small foot rests on each cross for support.
For full effect, fake blood took the place of makeup on Rangel as he wore a crown of thorns and had his clothes partially torn off by the Roman guards.
The reenactment has a fan in Father Orr, who said Holy Ghost pastor Monsignor Xavier Mankel gave the production his blessing last year. Father Orr, who leads the Masses in Spanish at Holy Ghost, is familiar with most all of the volunteer actors.
“I think it’s great. It’s a manifestation of their faith and there is fellowship,” Father Orr said, noting that the event brings the Knoxville-area Latino community together. “They do it for their own devotion, but they also do it for evangelical outreach.”
Father Orr credits the group for being faithful to the Scripture. The outreach was apparent this year as organizers took the production to All Saints—and attracted a crowd there.
Sandoval credited parishioner Antonio Dianas with bringing the reenactment idea to Holy Ghost, Sacred Heart and All Saints parishioners. Sandoval and José Luis Santiago then joined Dianas in developing the concept.
“Antonio Dianas came to our parish council meeting with the idea that it would be good to do something more real. It feels like when it happened 2,000 years ago. This is a way members can see how Christ lived and the last days of his life,” Sandoval said.
He said response to the reenactments has been “very good,” pointing out that there is more support for the production this year, which is a sign of growing interest.
According to Sandoval, the expense was minimal, with the production costing about $1,500—paid for by members of the reenactment and the parishes.
The two-hour Good Friday reenactment at Holy Ghost attracted curious looks from passersby as the Passion troupe followed the Stations around the church block in the Happy Hollow area bounded by Central Street and Baxter Avenue.
At All Saints in Cedar Bluff, about 300 people gathered to watch the reenactment, according to members of the reenactment group.
As the reenactment program builds, Sandoval said the organizers are looking to get more involvement by the Latino community and parishes.
“It’s more in the Latino community. We need to provide more information to the English Masses about what we do and how we do it. This will help in the future,” Sandoval said. “We will definitely want to do it next year and have more people involved.”
