Photos of a Fake Brazilian Jesus Carrying a Cross Around Rio’s Slums to the Sounds of Samba

Photos by Fábio Teixeira

Photo: Fábio Teixeira

This article originally appeared on VICE Brazil

For the past decade, the residents of the New Holland neighbourhood in the north of Rio de Janeiro have been celebrating Holy Week with a series of reenactments of episodes from the Passion of Christ. So, following tradition, this Good Friday people gathered on the streets to watch a man dressed as Jesus Christ carry a cross around the slums, to the sounds of samba.

The wounds on his body might have been fake but the symbolism they carry is still strong in the minds of Catholic Brazilians, who feel the Passion of Christ bears a lot of similarities to their nation's history.