Pope Francis will not go to the Colosseum in Rome today to witness the traditional Via Crucis on Good Friday and instead will follow him from his residence in the Vatican due to the “intense cold,” the Holy See reported.
“Due to the intense cold these days, Pope Francis will follow the Via Crucis this afternoon from Casa Santa Marta, joining the prayers of those who will meet with the Diocese of Rome at the Colosseum,” the Vatican press office reported hours before the ritual begins.
Yesterday, 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 that he carried out days after being discharged from the hospital last Saturday.
Francisco, who left the Gemelli hospital after being hospitalized for three days due to bronchitis, appeared in good shape and presided over the mass on one side of the altar as established due to his knee problems that prevent him from standing for a long time.
He did the same on the morning of the same day during the Chrism mass, which commemorates the institution of the sacrament of priestly orders by Jesus Christ during the Last Supper and is dedicated to the renewal by priests of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
There, he delivered a homily in which he asked priests to avoid divisions, which later “encourage parties and cordadas” in the Church.
For its part, 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.
Last year, part of the route was dedicated to asking for peace after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, although the presence at last year’s Via Crucis of a Ukrainian and Russian woman carrying the cross together at one of the stations provoked complaints. of the Ukrainian embassy to the Vatican.
On Holy Saturday, the Pope will preside over the Easter Vigil and on Sunday in Saint Peter’s Square he will officiate the Mass of Resurrection and give the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing leaning out on the central balcony of the façade of the Vatican basilica, according to the program.
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