Cardinal Robert W. McElroy will lead San Diego Catholics in observance of Holy Week culminating in Easter Sunday on April 9.
It will be McElroy’s first Easter as a cardinal, following his induction as San Diego’s first cardinal at the Vatican last August.
Holy Week, the most important period in the Catholic faith, began on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday, when the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus begins after sundown with the Easter Vigil Mass.
All Catholic parishes in San Diego and Imperial counties will hold special observances on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Among them:
- Mass of the Lord’s Supper, celebrated by McElroy, on Thursday, 7 p.m., at St. Joseph Cathedral, 1535 Third Avenue in downtown San diego.
- Good Friday Walk with the Suffering, 8:30 a.m., beginning at San Diego Rescue Mission, with Auxiliary Bishop Ramón Bejarano and representatives from organizations that support the vulnerable. Students from Cristo Rey San Diego High School will re-enact the various Stations of the Cross.
- Good Friday Pro-Life Stations of the Cross, 12 noon, with a procession beginning on the east side of St. Joseph Cathedral and continuing to the federal building on Broadway. Bejarano will lead hundreds through downtown streets holding portraits and signs, then will lead prayers in front of federal building.
- Good Friday, 3 p.m., at St. Joseph Cathedral, with a celebration of the Lord’s Passion led by McElroy.
- Easter Vigil, 8 p.m., at Good Shepherd Church, 8200 Gold Coast Drive, with McElroy celebrating a Mass that begins in candlelight and includes scriptural readings that trace the story of Christian salvation from creation accounts in the Book of Genesis to the Resurrection of Jesus. Those who have been preparing to enter the Catholic Church also receive the sacraments of initiation — baptism, First Communion and confirmation.
Then, on Easter Sunday, all parishes celebrate Masses commemorating the Resurrection.