Wow 20,000 Pray the Way of the Cross at Rome's Colosseum with Pope Francis' Meditations Guiding the Faithful - VIDEO
Thousands gathered at Rome's Colosseum to pray the Via Crucis or Way of the Cross with Pope Francis' meditations guiding the faithful. Young, old, clergy, religious, and families all participated in memory of Jesus' path to his cross. The Way of the Cross was presided over in the evening, 18 April, by Cardinal Baldo Reina on behalf of Pope Francis. The Holy Father explains that, faced with inhuman economies built on calculation and algorithms, cold logic and implacable interests, the only change of course is to turn to the Savior.
SEE ALSO : FULL TEXT Meditations by Pope Francis for the Via Crucis https://www.catholicnewsworld.com/2025/04/pope-francis-writes-his-own-meditations.html
The liturgical ceremony started at 9:15 p.m. Rome time with Cardinal Reina, the pope’s vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, holding the cross for the first station. Several groups representing different parts of the Church and society took turns bearing the black wooden cross through each stations, including youth, Caritas volunteers, families, people with disabilities, migrants, health care workers, religious, educators, and jubilee volunteers.
Thousands of small lights illuminate the night of Good Friday at the Colosseum. They are those of the torches of the almost 20 thousand faithful gathered in the heart of Rome to commemorate the "Passion of the Lord", the extreme sacrifice of Christ for the salvation of men. The ancient rite of the Via Crucis is renewed in the amphitheater commissioned, around the year 70, by Titus Flavius Vespasian for shows and amenities and since the 16th century identified by tradition as the place of martyrdom of the first Christians and for this reason, in 1750, consecrated by Pope Benedict XIV to the memory of the Passion of Christ and the Christian martyrs, with the placement of the fourteen niches that tell the story of Jesus' journey to Golgotha.
The Pope, who, like last year, wrote the meditations for the Stations of the Cross, delegated Cardinal Baldo Reina, his vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, to preside over the celebration broadcast worldwide. The mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, was also present. And it was the cardinal who introduced the way of the cross: “The way of Calvary passes through the middle of our everyday streets,” while we “usually” go in an “opposite direction” to that of the Lord. But precisely in the choices we make, “we may encounter” his face, “cross” his “gaze,” says the cardinal with the words of Francis, and it is at that moment that “we can turn around.” Reading the texts of the Pontiff were Orazio Coclite, editor and commentator for Radio Vaticana - Vatican News, the actress Vittoria Belvedere and the Rai journalist , Barbara Capponi, accompanied by the songs of the Sistine Chapel choir directed by Monsignor Marcos Pavan.
In his introduction to the fourteen Stations, Francis writes that in Jesus’ steps toward Golgotha “our exodus to a new land” is reenacted, for Christ “came to change the world,” and we too must “change direction, see the goodness of His traces.” Thus, “The Stations of the Cross is the prayer of people on the move. It disrupts our usual routine.” It is a costly way in “this world that calculates everything,” where “gratuitousness comes at a dear price.” Yet “in the gift,” the Pope observes, “everything blossoms anew: a city split into factions and torn by conflict can move towards reconciliation; an arid piety can rediscover the freshness of God’s promises; and a heart of stone can turn into a heart of flesh.”
In the concluding prayer we hear the ‘Laudato sì, mi’ Signore’—‘Praise be to you, my Lord.’ In Saint Francis of Assisi’s canticle, our common home is a sister who cries out because of the harm we have inflicted on her. ‘Fratelli tutti’—‘Brothers and sisters all,’ the Pope writes, calling us to be marked by the flavour of the Gospel, ‘He loved us,’ wrote Saint Paul, ‘to make us realise that nothing can ever ‘separate us’ from that love.’
We have walked the Stations of the Cross. We have turned towards the love from which nothing can ever separate us. Now, as the King sleeps and a great silence descends upon all the earth, let us pray, in the words of Saint Francis, for the gift of heartfelt conversion:
“Most High and glorious God, Cast your light into the darkness of my heart. Grant me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity, and profound humility. Grant me, Lord, wisdom and understanding, so that I may do your true and holy will. Amen.”
Source: Vatican News Italian
The liturgical ceremony started at 9:15 p.m. Rome time with Cardinal Reina, the pope’s vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, holding the cross for the first station. Several groups representing different parts of the Church and society took turns bearing the black wooden cross through each stations, including youth, Caritas volunteers, families, people with disabilities, migrants, health care workers, religious, educators, and jubilee volunteers.
Thousands of small lights illuminate the night of Good Friday at the Colosseum. They are those of the torches of the almost 20 thousand faithful gathered in the heart of Rome to commemorate the "Passion of the Lord", the extreme sacrifice of Christ for the salvation of men. The ancient rite of the Via Crucis is renewed in the amphitheater commissioned, around the year 70, by Titus Flavius Vespasian for shows and amenities and since the 16th century identified by tradition as the place of martyrdom of the first Christians and for this reason, in 1750, consecrated by Pope Benedict XIV to the memory of the Passion of Christ and the Christian martyrs, with the placement of the fourteen niches that tell the story of Jesus' journey to Golgotha.
The Pope, who, like last year, wrote the meditations for the Stations of the Cross, delegated Cardinal Baldo Reina, his vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, to preside over the celebration broadcast worldwide. The mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, was also present. And it was the cardinal who introduced the way of the cross: “The way of Calvary passes through the middle of our everyday streets,” while we “usually” go in an “opposite direction” to that of the Lord. But precisely in the choices we make, “we may encounter” his face, “cross” his “gaze,” says the cardinal with the words of Francis, and it is at that moment that “we can turn around.” Reading the texts of the Pontiff were Orazio Coclite, editor and commentator for Radio Vaticana - Vatican News, the actress Vittoria Belvedere and the Rai journalist , Barbara Capponi, accompanied by the songs of the Sistine Chapel choir directed by Monsignor Marcos Pavan.
In his introduction to the fourteen Stations, Francis writes that in Jesus’ steps toward Golgotha “our exodus to a new land” is reenacted, for Christ “came to change the world,” and we too must “change direction, see the goodness of His traces.” Thus, “The Stations of the Cross is the prayer of people on the move. It disrupts our usual routine.” It is a costly way in “this world that calculates everything,” where “gratuitousness comes at a dear price.” Yet “in the gift,” the Pope observes, “everything blossoms anew: a city split into factions and torn by conflict can move towards reconciliation; an arid piety can rediscover the freshness of God’s promises; and a heart of stone can turn into a heart of flesh.”
In the concluding prayer we hear the ‘Laudato sì, mi’ Signore’—‘Praise be to you, my Lord.’ In Saint Francis of Assisi’s canticle, our common home is a sister who cries out because of the harm we have inflicted on her. ‘Fratelli tutti’—‘Brothers and sisters all,’ the Pope writes, calling us to be marked by the flavour of the Gospel, ‘He loved us,’ wrote Saint Paul, ‘to make us realise that nothing can ever ‘separate us’ from that love.’
We have walked the Stations of the Cross. We have turned towards the love from which nothing can ever separate us. Now, as the King sleeps and a great silence descends upon all the earth, let us pray, in the words of Saint Francis, for the gift of heartfelt conversion:
“Most High and glorious God, Cast your light into the darkness of my heart. Grant me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity, and profound humility. Grant me, Lord, wisdom and understanding, so that I may do your true and holy will. Amen.”
Source: Vatican News Italian
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