Which man from Cyrene was forced to carry Jesus' cross?

Which man from Cyrene was forced to carry Jesus’ cross? Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry Jesus’ cross.

The three Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—identify Simon as a man from Cyrene whom Roman soldiers compelled to carry Jesus’ cross on the way to the crucifixion. Cyrene was a Greek city in Cyrenaica, in present-day eastern Libya, and had a substantial Jewish community.

Mark gives Simon’s family details, calling him the father of Alexander and Rufus. Some readers connect this Rufus with the Christian named in Paul’s Letter to the Romans, but the identification is not certain. Simon’s sudden appearance and the naming of his sons may indicate that his family was known to the Gospel’s original audience.

John’s Gospel does not mention Simon and instead says that Jesus carried his own cross. Many scholars understand the Synoptic description as referring specifically to the heavy crossbeam, or patibulum, carried to a vertical stake at the execution site. In Christian art and the Stations of the Cross, Simon’s act became the Fifth Station and a symbol of sharing another person’s burden.