‘Crucified’ in Trafalgar Square

In Good Friday ceremonies around the world, Indonesian Christians carried a bamboo cross during a procession to reenact Jesus’s path to crucifixion. At the Vatican, Pope Francis lay down in prayer during the Passion of Christ Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica. Hundreds of Christians streamed through the cobblestone alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City toward the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally believed by many to be the site of the crucifixion.

At Cutud, northern Philippines, several devotees had themselves nailed to crosses — an annual rite rejected by church leaders in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Pope Francis lies down in prayer during the Passion of Christ Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, Friday, March 29, 2013. Pope Francis began the Good Friday service at the Vatican with the Passion of Christ Mass and hours later will go to the ancient Colosseum in Rome for the traditional Way of the Cross procession. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Filipino penitent Ruben Enaje, who has portrayed as Jesus Christ for 27 times, grimaces as he is nailed to the cross during Good Friday rituals on March 29, 2013 at Cutud, Pampanga province, northern Philippines (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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Pilgrims walk with crosses as the Northern Cross pilgrimage makes its final leg of the journey to Holy Island, Berwick Upon Tweed, England, Friday, March 29, 2013. For more than 30 years, groups of pilgrims celebrate Easter by crossing the tidal causeway during the annual Christian cross carrying pilgrimage to Holy Island , the pilgrims walk around 100 miles through Northumberland and the Scottish Borders during Holy Week.(AP Photo/Scott Heppell).

And in London, actor James Burke-Dunsmore portrayed Jesus, during a performance in Trafalgar Square of “The Passion of Jesus” a free performance depicting the betrayal, capture, trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, performed by the Wintershall players, a Surrey theater group.

Thousands watched the show — which included a symbolic walk through Jerusalem — as it was performed twice in the central London square, despite the cold weather.

Burke-Dunsmore, 41, has played the role more than 60 times, and got in character by dragging a heavy cross around the square.

“Although the actor insists he does not suffer from delusions of grandeur while portraying his illustrious subject, he has in the past channelled the Christian spirit to get out of sticky situations,” the UK’s Daily Mail reported. He “once walked past a group of warring drunks in Edinburgh while wearing his Jesus costume — and stopped to tell them the parable of the prodigal son… Instead of turning on him, the men enthusiastically acted out parts in the story and insisted he finish the tale.”