For the second year in a row, Pope Francis did not go to the Colosseum to follow the Stations of the Cross. The Vatican reported that he instead watched from Casa Santa Marta to conserve his strength for the Easter Vigil and Mass on Sunday.
This is the first year out of Francis' 11 year papacy that he has writen the meditations himself. Typically, they are written by a group or an organization for a cause that the Pope is choosing to highlight, such as victims of war or migrants.
The meditations this year were inspired by the Year of Prayer, ahead of the Jubilee of 2025. And they focused on the need for compassion amid violence in the world.
The meditations are written as a one-on-one conversation with Jesus. For example, the 11th station reflected on overcoming feelings of abandonment.
So that when I see only darkness, when I experience the collapse of my certainties and the wreckage of my life, I will no longer feel alone, but realize that you are there beside me. You, the God of closeness, experienced abandonment so that I need no longer fall prey to feelings of isolation and abandonment.
Among the people carrying the cross from station to station were migrants, a group from a rehabilitation center and people with disabilities.
KG
