Tallinn's Way of the Cross leads to Orthodox church for first time
Good Friday was celebrated in Tallinn yesterday with the traditional Way of the Cross. For the first time, this year, the Way of the Cross in the Estonian Capital led to an Orthodox church.
For Christians, Good Friday is the darkest day of Easter week. The Way of the Cross, also known as the "Stations of the Cross," which passed through Tallinn Old Town yesterday, provides a way for Christians to reflect on suffering, caring, comfort, pain, death and hope. This year, the Way of the Cross began at St. Mary's Cathedral. There were 14 stops, divided between different churches in the Estonian capital.
"These same stops date back to the Middle Ages or even earlier. The most important moments of suffering in Jesus' life from the moment he was condemned to the moment he took up the cross and began to move," said Jaak Aus, pastor of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church's (EELK) Tallinn diocese.
This year, for the first time, the Way of the Cross journey led to an Orthodox Church – the Tallinn Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. In 2025, Western Christians and Eastern Christians are celebrating Easter and Good Friday at the same time.
"It all depends on the calendar, when the solar and lunar calendars coincide, so to speak. There can be a five-year shift, or there can be a 10-year shift," said the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church Orthodox (EAÕK High Priest Aleksander Sarapik.
The Tallinn Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord houses the tomb of Metropolitan Bishop Plato and has a long history.
"In fact, [there have been] 800 years of the Christian church in Tallinn in this church – the Catholic period, the Lutheran period, the Slavic Orthodox period and then 125 years of the liturgical tradition of the Estonian Orthodox Church," Sarapik said.
The next stops on the route were at St. Olaf's Church, St. Peter and St. Paul 's Cathedral and St. John's Church.
The tradition of the Way of the Cross is an old one and has a Catholic background. When it first began in Tallinn, the Way of the Cross started from St. Charles' Church (Kaarli kirik). At one point, there was not enough room in the church for all the people, who wanted to attend, and so the Good Friday Way of the Cross, which brings together different churches and congregations, began.
This year, St. Charles' Church was not part of the route this year.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Michael Cole
