Mutharika causes commotion as he joins Way of Cross

Malawi’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president Arthur Peter Mutharika on Friday joined thousands of Roman Catholic faithful in the annual walking pilgrimage of the Way of the Cross.

The day is part of Easter celebrations when Christians worldwide celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Mutharika took part in the joint procession conducted by St Pius Parish and St Peter and Paul (Chilobwe) Catholic Churches in Malawi’s commercial city of Blantyre.

The DPP presidential hopeful in the next month’s polls silently joined the Catholic faithful in Zingwangwa and walked for some minutes amid tight security before jumping into his vehicle. Mutharika also carried the Cross for some meters

However, his presence caused a minor hullabaloo at Zingwangwa Market where Christians as well as scores of bystanders scrambled to have a glimpse of him carrying the Cross.

Christians from the two churches jointly walked the Way of the Cross from St Pius Church through Zingwangwa and Chimwankhunda ending at St Peter and Paul Church in Chilobwe performing Jesus’ march to crucifixion while linking it to modern-day suffering and injustice.

The procession replicates the devotional practice of the Stations of the Cross, which recalls the episodes on Good Friday including Jesus’ trial, march to the cross, death and burial in about 33 A.D. in Jerusalem.