Pope holds Good Friday's Way of the Cross at Colosseum

Pope Benedict XVI presided over the Way of the Cross tonight at the Coliseum in Rome. The traditional Way of the Cross or Via Crucis ceremony commemorates the martyrdom of Christ right up to his crucifixion. This year the Vatican dedicated it to end violence, kidnapping, corruption and conflict in the world.

The Pope, who turns 82 years on April 16, the day before the start of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, presided but as a spectator from Palatine hill for most of the Via Crucis, without walking the 14 stations, as he did last year.

The Via Crucis, witnessed by hundreds of Italians, was overshadowed by the earthquake that devastated central Italy Monday and left nearly 300 dead. The ceremony began at 9:15 pm (Italian time) and lasted about three hours.

"Not all is lost in moments of difficulty," said the Archbishop of India, Thomas Menamparampil, who led reflections. "History is full of hatred and violence. Also today we are witnessing incredible violence: homicide, violence against women and children, abductions, extortion, ethnic conflict, urban violence, physical and mental torture and violations of rights human," he said during the meditations that accompany each Station of the Cross.The Salesian Archbishop of Guwahati cited people like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Mahatma Gandhi, Shakespeare and Dante Alighieri, making references to disasters like the tsunami and the atomic bomb.

Benedict XVI joined the procession towards the end, while the cross was carried to all 14 Stations by a young disabled person, a Roman family, a patient and a volunteer for a humanitarian association.

Most of the ceremony was officiated by the Italian Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar of Rome and was broadcast live on Italian public television.

On Saturday evening, the Pope will return to St. Peter's Basilica for the evening before Easter Sunday Mass and the traditional blessing "urbi et orbi."






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CREDITS:

- Photo of the Colosseum by rayced