Pope chooses theme of peace for Colosseum Way of the Cross

Photo by Jakob Braun on Unsplash

Source: Vatican News

Pope Francis chose the theme for this year's Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday evening: 'Voices of Peace in a World at War'. This year's meditations were testimonies narrated to the Holy Father by men and women who have experienced violence, poverty and injustice, during his apostolic journeys and on other occasions.

Pope Francis didn't attend in person because the weather was exceptionally cold for this time of year and he was advised to stay indoors - but he was able to watch online.

The way of the cross winds its path directly from the Holy Land, where "violence seems to be our only language." In this context "full of hatred and resentment," the call is to make a "decision" for peace. Then the prayer: "When we condemn our brothers and sisters without appeal" and "When we close our eyes to injustice: Enlighten us, Lord Jesus!"

The testimony of a West African migrant was poignant as he recounted his "way of the cross" marked by imprisonment and torture in Libya and the sea crossings, like the one on a raft with 100 people: "Every night I asked God why? Why should people like ourselves consider us enemies? "Deliver us, Lord Jesus", is his prayer, from "hasty judgements", from "destructive gossip".

The meditation at the third station, the one where Jesus first falls, was by young people from Central America. They too spoke of "falling" due to "laziness", "fear", "discouragement" and "empty promises of an easy but dishonest life of greed and corruption". "Too many families," they write, "continue to mourn the loss of their children". And, they prayed, "from our laziness", "sadness", "falls" and also from "thinking that helping others is not up to us": "Raise us up, Lord Jesus!".

From South America, came the voice of a mother, the victim of a guerrilla bombing in 2012. What terrified her most was seeing her seven-month-old daughter with pieces of glass stuck in her face. "What it must have been like for Mary to see Jesus' face bruised and bloodied!" "In the disfigured faces of those who suffer, she prays: Grant that we may recognize you, Lord Jesus!"

Three migrants from Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East told their stories: they were different but united. All of them are victims of hatred. What "is once experienced, is not forgotten...". Hence, a request for God's forgiveness because "we disdained you in the unfortunate" and "ignored you in those who need help."

A priest gave voice to the Balkan Peninsula: he was a parish priest at the height of the war, and was deported to a camp without food or water: "They threatened to pull out my fingernails, to skin me alive." Once he begged a guard to kill him, but a Muslim woman brought him food and aid: "She was for me like Veronica was for Jesus". "Grant us your gaze, Lord Jesus!", is his plea, "that we may take care of those who suffer violence" and "welcome those who repent of evil."

Two teenagers from North Africa, Joseph, 16, and Johnson, 14, living in camps for displaced persons said they want to study and play but have neither the space nor the opportunity: "Peace is good, war is bad. I would like to say this to the world's leaders". Their prayer was in "the struggle to build bridges of fraternity": - "Make us strong, Lord Jesus!"

The faithful from South-East Asia also spoke to the world: "We are a people that love peace, yet we are crushed by the cross of conflict...". Women give strength, like the nun who "knelt down before the power of the weapons that were lined up". "From trafficking in weapons without qualms of conscience: Convert us, Lord Jesus!" they prayed.

Another voice from Central Africa was that of a nun who tells of the terrible morning of 5 December 2013, when the rebels stormed her village: "My Sister disappeared and never came back. She cried out "Why?" But she understood that it was from God she had to draw the strength to love: "Everything passes away except God". "Heal us", she asked God, from the fear of being "misunderstood" and "forgotten."

At the tenth station, the meditations were by a young Ukrainian and a young Russian. The former recounted his flight from Mariupol to Italy, with his father stranded at the border, and his return to Ukraine. "There is war on all sides, the city is destroyed." The latter remembered his oldest brother who died and his father and grandfather who disappeared: "Everyone told us we should be proud, but at home, there was only much suffering and sadness." They asked the Lord for purification from "resentment", "bitterness," "violent words and reactions."

Suffering was also shared by a young man from the Near East who has been living through a war that became "more atrocious every day" since 2012. He fled with his parents: "Another calvary...". "Heal us, Lord Jesus" from "being closed in on ourselves", from "isolation", "distrust and suspicion."

There were words of hope from a West Asian woman who saw her young son die under a mortar shell along with his cousin and a young neighbour: "Faith helps me to hope, for it reminds me that the dead are in the arms of Jesus". To Christ, she asked: "Teach us" to "forgive, as you forgave us".

An East African nun relived the death of her Sister at the hands of terrorists on the day her country celebrated the Independence Agreement. "The day of victory turned into defeat." It is Christ, however, who is "our true victory". "You, who by dying destroyed death: Have mercy on us, Lord Jesus!"

Finally, there were stories of girls from Southern Africa, kidnapped and abused by rebels: "Stripped of clothes and dignity, we lived naked so that we could not escape." Having escaped, they wrote: "In the name of Jesus we forgive them for all they did to us." "Preserve us, Lord Jesus!" "In the "forgiveness that renews the heart."

The Way of the Cross concluded with a prayer of "14 thank yous" to the Lord: "Thank you for the light you have kindled in our nights. In reconciling all divisions, you made us all brothers and sisters".

Watch the Stations on the Vatican Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOedJDxSfS0

Read the full text here: www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2023/documents/ns_lit_doc_20230407_via-crucis-meditazioni_en.html