Catholics Mark Good Friday Under Cloud of Sex Scandal

LISBON, Portugal (April 2) -- With the pope himself said to be wearing a crown of thorns over revelations of priestly abuse and cover-up, annual commemorations of Jesus' suffering take on special poignancy this Good Friday.

Around the world today, Catholics are re-enacting their savior's last steps toward crucifixion in somber and sometimes literally painful ceremonies. In Jerusalem, Rome and Mumbai, believers are shouldering heavy wooden crosses in miles-long parades. The Vatican asks its followers to try to feel the suffering of Jesus, his mother and his followers because of what they believe happened on this day 1,977 years ago.

In the Philippines, some devotees beat themselves and even submit to being nailed to real crosses by actors in Roman soldiers' costumes -- despite discouragement from the church, which says they need not take penance that far. No church bells toll and some TV channels halt programming until Easter Sunday two days later.

In the Spanish city of Seville, hooded penitents drag lifelike wooden floats depicting Jesus' and his mother Mary's suffering through crowds of silent believers. The sculptures, which intricately show Jesus' torture in bloody detail, are delivered to the town's cathedral at dawn.

Here in Portugal, little girls assemble into an army of Virgin Marys, complete with sparkling halos hoisted above their heads, as their dads drag crucifixes through the pious northern city of Braga. Streets are festooned with makeshift altars littered with blazing candles, and Gregorian chants are piped through the cobblestoned town in darkness.

For the world's more than 1 billion Catholics, Good Friday is their calendar's most mournful day. Similar celebrations are being held from Brazil to Bermuda, where believers fly homemade kites with crosses of wood symbolizing Jesus' crucifixion and ascension to heaven.

In Ireland, it's illegal to sell alcohol on Good Friday. And in Britain, there's no horse racing. In Germany, comedic theater performances and other events involving public dancing are banned, though the rule is rarely enforced. Even in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, Good Friday is a national holiday and schools are closed.

But while Catholics re-enact age-old anguish, the Vatican is experiencing a bit of modern suffering itself, as it scrambles to tamp a burgeoning sex abuse scandal. Pope Benedict XVI sees clergy abuse as a "test for him and the church," his spokesman said Thursday, as bishops around Europe use their Holy Week homilies to defend the pontiff. He's accused of not doing enough to stop known pedophiles from having contact with children.

So far the sex scandal roiling the church hasn't decreased turnout at Holy Week celebrations this year. Thousands of faithful have turned out to watch Benedict preside over services including one on Thursday where he washed the feet of 12 priests, symbolizing Jesus' washing of his disciples' feet at the Last Supper. This evening, he's due to lead a torch-lit Way of the Cross procession at Rome's Colosseum.

Shortly before becoming pope in 2005, the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote meditations for use in Rome's Way of the Cross procession that referred obliquely to priestly abuse, denouncing "filth" in the church. But it's unclear whether Benedict will address the matter today. The 82-year-old pope has not completed the full procession since 2008, taking up a wooden cross only at the ritual's final stage.

The pope has largely remained mum on the scandal, while underlings defend him and the Vatican lashes out at what it's called a media conspiracy against the church and its figurehead. But with fresh abuse cases being reported almost daily, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope's vicar for Rome, told Vatican Radio that this is a "moment of suffering" for the church.