Representation of the Way of the Cross in Mexico recognized as UNESCO heritage site

Puebla, Mexico, Dec 14, 2025 / 08:00 am

The perennially popular representation of the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ, held every Holy Week in the Iztapalapa sector of Mexico City, has been declared a Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The decision was made during a UNESCO meeting in New Delhi, India, where the nomination of the Iztapalapa Way of the Cross was reviewed and approved.

Speaking at the event, Edaly Quiroz, deputy director of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, said that Holy Week in Iztapalapa is not merely a theatrical performance but a manifestation “of unity, faith, and resilience that brings together thousands of people in a collective exercise of memory, identity, and participation.”

On its website, UNESCO states that this list includes “practices, knowledge, and expressions that communities recognize as part of their cultural identity” and emphasizes the need to protect them for future generations.

Juan Pablo Serrano, custodian of the image of the Lord of the Little Cave in the Iztapalapa Cathedral, explained in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that this tradition is closely linked to the origin of the image and a 19th-century promise made by the community.

He recounted that in 1687, an image of Christ was being transported from Oaxaca to Mexico City for restoration. During the journey, those carrying it rested in a cave in the Hill of the Star, and when they tried to resume their trip, “they could no longer move the image.”

“It was understood that the image representing Christ in the tomb wanted to remain there. [Being in a cave] a very particular devotion began to develop,” he noted.

Serrano explained that the direct connection with the depiction of the Stations of the Cross arose in 1833 during a cholera epidemic. Faced with the high death toll, the inhabitants carried the image in procession and asked for Christ’s intercession. After several days of prayer, the plague ceased, an event that was interpreted as a miracle.

Approximately 2 million attendees in 2025

Following that event, the community vowed to reenact the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ every year as a sign of gratitude, and each year the tradition has grown, both in the number of participants and the audience. In Holy Week 2025 alone, it drew approximately 2 million people.

Serrano expressed his joy at the recognition, which he said “is something we [the residents] always boast about with pride and honor.”

He noted that during the years he has been in charge of the image he has witnessed the arrival of thousands of visitors, including people who do not identify as Catholic, who “when drawn by the representation, visit the image, visit the church, and experience a true reflection in their hearts and a real conversion.”

Serrano emphasized that this new status represents a greater commitment for the community so the celebration can continue to be “an expression of gratitude to God. Everything done as an offering to God ultimately becomes [a form of] catechesis and evangelization.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.