On Holy Saturday, Pope Francis will preside over the Easter Vigil and on Sunday in Saint Peter’s Square he will officiate the Resurrection Mass and give the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing leaning out on the central balcony of the façade of the Vatican basilica
Pope Francis canceled his presence at the Via Crucis night this Friday at the Colosseum in Rome, due to the low temperatures recorded in the Italian capital. “Due to the intense cold these days, Pope Francis will follow the Via Crucis tonight from his residence in Santa Marta, joining the prayers of those who will meet with the Diocese of Rome at the Colosseum,” indicated a press release. from the Vatican.
On Holy Thursday, the pope went to a juvenile prison on the outskirts of Rome, where he participated in a mass and also got up from his wheelchair to wash the feet of twelve prisoners as a memory of the Last Supper, a gesture he made days after being discharged from the hospital last Saturday.
The Via Crucis is an annual journey that hundreds of faithful take every Good Friday in the Colosseum in Rome, through fourteen meditations that narrate the ascent to Calvary of Jesus, his crucifixion and his placement in the tomb. Pope Francis, who is recovering from bronchitis, has wanted all the stations of the rite to describe what he calls “World War III in pieces”, with a review of the dramas of the world.
The tour of this 2023 included as topics the guerrillas in South America, the drug trafficking that ravages Central America, the war in Ukraine, forced migration in Africa and religious conflicts in the Middle East.
On behalf of Latin America, a young man from Central America spoke in the third station and a mother from South America. “We young people want peace. But often we fall, (…) Laziness, fear, discouragement and also the empty promises of an easy but dirty life, made of greed and corruption, throw us to the ground, “started the young man.
His meditation asked: «This is what makes the spirals of drug trafficking, violence, dependencies and the exploitation of people grow, while many families continue to mourn the loss of their children, and the impunity of those who swindle, kidnap and kill has no end How to obtain peace?».
Finally, he mentioned, in Spanish, the word “commitment”, necessary to take the reins of life in search of peace and say “no” to other false commitments that kill it.
Later, a mother from South America recounted the drama of living under the action of the guerrillas. “In 2012 the explosion of a bomb planted by the guerrillas destroyed my leg,” the woman recalled.
“What terrified me the most was seeing my seven-month-old daughter, covered in blood, with many pieces of glass embedded in her face. What it must have been like for Mary to see the deformed and bloodied face of Jesus!” she continued.
However, the mother asked not to be carried away by “anger and resentment”, since she discovered that by “spreading hate it created more violence”.
«I understood that many victims needed to discover (…) that you cannot live on resentment. In this way I began to help them: I studied to teach how to prevent accidents caused by the millions of mines scattered », he completed his reflection.
Russian and Ukrainian for peace
The Ukrainian war was also present this year: a Ukrainian and Russian woman carried the cross together at one of the stations, prompting complaints from the Ukrainian embassy to the Vatican.
On this occasion, the tenth station meditation was co-written by a young Ukrainian and a Russian.
The Ukrainian recalled when he fled with his family from Mariupol to Italy, where his grandmother lived, but after a short time they decided to return, since his father was recruited by the Army.
“Here the situation is still difficult, there is war on all sides, the city is destroyed. But in my heart remained that certainty that my grandmother used to tell me when she cried: ‘You’ll see, everything will pass. And with God’s help, peace will return,’” she implored.
For his part, the Russian admitted that he spoke “with a feeling of guilt” and recalled when a letter informed his family of his brother’s death: “Everyone told us that we should be proud, but at home there was so much suffering and sadness.”
On Holy Saturday, the Pope will preside over the Pascual Vigil and on Sunday in Saint Peter’s Square he will officiate the Resurrection Mass and give the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing leaning out on the central balcony of the Vatican basilica’s façade, according to the program.
With information from EFE
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