Good Friday unfolded through public streets and crowded churches across Latin America as Catholic devotees marked the day with processions and ceremonies that reenact the crucifixion of Jesus. The observances brought faith into public spaces in multiple countries, with participants carrying images, walking in penitential groups and gathering in large numbers for ceremonies associated with Holy Week.
In Antigua, a colonial-era city in southern Guatemala, dozens of penitents dressed in purple and white robes moved through the early-morning streets, including penitents known as “cucuruchos.” The city, which hosts more than a dozen processions throughout Holy Week, served as a backdrop for the reenactments set against volcanoes. Marcos Bautista, 63, said he has attended the Good Friday observances since his father brought him as a baby, and he described the holiday as beyond words—“To describe Holy Week in Antigua, there are no words that can capture what it feels like,” Bautista said, adding that speaking about what Jesus has done in his life moves him “deeply.”
In Bolivia, President Rodrigo Paz traveled to Tarija to participate in Good Friday ceremonies, a departure from prior practice. The country is a secular state under its constitution, and leaders had refrained from engaging in religious events between 2006 and 2025, but Paz—who took office last November—broke with that precedent by attending Palm Sunday Mass carrying a palm frond. In La Paz, authorities and military bands accompanied Good Friday processions, including those in which hooded penitents carried the Holy Sepulcher through the streets, and Antonio Santamaría, holding an image of Jesus, said he welcomed the government’s presence: “I’m glad everyone is here now.”
Bolivia’s Good Friday traditions also reflect the country’s dual religious landscape of Catholicism and strong Indigenous spiritual traditions. In some households, it is customary to eat only fish on Good Friday and prepare up to 12 dishes representing the apostles, though that tradition has declined in recent years amid an economic crisis. Even as participation traditions change, the day continued to draw attention to centuries-old devotional practices.
Across Ecuador and Colombia, celebrations drew large crowds and included pilgrim climbs. In Ecuador—where about 80% of the population identifies as Catholic—processions were held in major cities, and in Quito the “Jesús del Gran Poder” procession drew more than 150,000 faithful who filled the historic center’s streets with chants and prayers as they accompanied an image of Jesus carrying the cross. In neighboring Colombia, thousands climbed Monserrate Hill, and at more than 10,200 feet (3,100 meters) above sea level they reached the summit in Bogotá to attend Mass at the basilica, with similar observances—including reenactments of the Stations of the Cross—also held elsewhere in the country.
In Mexico, Good Friday observances included a penitential procession known for participants’ distinctive appearance and ritual penance. In Atlixco, in the central state of Puebla, masked penitents in chains walked through the town with pieces of cactus stuck to their skin as part of the “Procession of the Chained.” The tradition includes people paying penance for their sins and others taking part to give thanks for miracles, and Marcela Ramírez, a homemaker who attended, said, “It’s very beautiful, very sad,” adding that it is “a kind of reverence, and you have to come and accompany them.”
Although the share of Catholics in Latin America has declined over the past decade, Catholicism remains the region’s largest religion, and several countries continued to report strong majorities identifying as Catholic in recent surveys. In Peru and Argentina, more than 60% of adults still identify as Catholic, according to 2024 surveys by the Pew Research Center and Latinobarómetro.