Stations of the Cross procession takes place without Pope

More than 25,000 people followed the Stations of the Cross devotion in front of the Colosseum in Rome. For the first time, Pope Francis wrote the texts for the 14 stations. The pontiff himself was not there because of his poor health.

During the traditional Stations of the Cross devotion in front of the Colosseum in Rome, Pope Francis lamented the suffering in the world in his texts read out by various people and groups. In memory of Jesus Christ and his sufferings, the head of the Catholic Church addressed his prayer on Good Friday to the people “who suffer persecution for your name in so many parts of the world; those who suffer the drama of war and those who who draw strength in you and carry heavy crosses”.

Pope Francis usually follows the procession on site. As was the case last year, the 87-year-old Francis, who had been in poor health for months, decided not to take part shortly before the start. In order to protect his health, he wanted to follow the service from his residence in the Vatican, the Holy See said.

The devotion remembers the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. A procession leads past the Colosseum over 14 stations and recreates the suffering of Jesus Christ – from his condemnation to death to his crucifixion and his burial.

More than 25,000 pilgrims followed the procession

The Colosseum was impressively illuminated late in the evening. More than 25,000 people watched the “Via Crucis” procession around the ancient amphitheater. This year, for the first time, the pontiff wrote the texts for the individual stations himself. Most recently, John Paul II wrote the Stations of the Cross text himself in 2000. In the past, different people designed the texts for the stations.

This time the so-called meditations had the motto “Praying with Jesus on the Way of the Cross”. Unlike usual, where the focus was on the current world situation, the texts now primarily dealt with prayer and the spiritual content of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. But wars, conflicts and hardship also occurred sporadically there: “How do I react to the madness of war, to children’s faces that can no longer smile, to mothers who see them malnourished and hungry and no longer have any tears to shed ?” Francis asked in one of the texts.