For Tongans around the world, Good Friday is a day of deep reflection and communal worship. But for those living overseas, returning home to participate in traditional Easter observances isn’t always possible.
This year, however, the Tongan diaspora found a powerful way to bridge the distance by sponsoring a livestream broadcast of Vava’u’s solemn Stations of the Cross reenactment, allowing families and fellow believers to join in devotion from afar.
Radio FM Broadcom FM 87.5 streamed the procession in Vava’u this morning, thanking sponsors, including Mele Finau Folau mo e Eiki and Tongia Mailangi, Maulupekotofa Mailangi, Isi Tapueluelu, and others from Kelana and the Church of Sangato Sosefo Ko e Tangata Ngaue for their financial assistance.
The initiative highlights how modern technology is helping sustain Tonga’s deeply rooted religious traditions, even as migration disperses its people across the globe.
The Stations of the Cross is a devotional reenactment of Jesus’ final hours and holds special significance in Tonga.
It has been practised for more than five decades since it was initiated in Houma, Tongatapu’s Catholic church in the 1980s.
In Vava’u, the observance was marked by prayerful processions, hymns, and dramatic portrayals of Christ’s journey to Calvary.
With Tonga’s diaspora expanding, livestreamed church services, feast day celebrations, and even funerals are becoming increasingly common, ensuring that traditions endure across generations and oceans.
