Pope Francis presides over Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome on Feb. 14, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Mar 29, 2024 / 10:10 am (CNA).

For the first time in his 11-year pontificate, Pope Francis has written his own spiritual meditations for Friday’s Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) in Rome.

The reflections are based on the theme “In Prayer with Jesus on the Way of the Cross” and center on “what Jesus experienced in that moment” at each station, the Holy See Press Office said earlier this week when announcing that the pope would offer his own meditations.   

Here is the full text of the Via Crucis meditations for Good Friday, March 29, 2024:

STATIONS OF THE CROSS 2024 

In prayer with Jesus on the Way of the Cross 

Introduction: 

Lord Jesus, as we contemplate your cross, we realize that you sacrificed yourself completely for our sake. We now take this time to be with you. We want to spend it in closeness to you. On the way from Gethsemane to Calvary, you never stopped praying. In this Year of Prayer, we accompany you on your own journey of prayer. 

From the Gospel according to Mark: “They went to a place called Gethsemane… Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. He said to them, ‘Remain here and keep awake.’ Going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed… ‘Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’ He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘Could you not keep awake one hour?’” (Mk 14:32-37). 

Lord, you prepared for every day of your life with prayer, and now, in Gethsemane, you prepare for your Passover. Abba, Father, for you all things are possible, you say, for prayer is before all else dialogue and intimacy, yet at the same time struggle and supplication: Remove this cup from me! Prayer too is entrustment and offering: Yet not what I want, but what you want. In your prayer, you passed through the narrow door of our human suffering and experienced it fully. You were “distressed and agitated” (Mk 14:33), fearful in the face of death, crushed beneath the burden of our sin, and oppressed by untold grief. Yet in the midst of this struggle, you prayed “more earnestly” (Lk 22:44), and in this way turned your bitter anguish into a sacrifice of love. 

Of us, you asked only one thing: to remain with you and to keep awake. You did not ask something impossible, but simply closeness. How many times, though, have I strayed far from you! How many times, like the disciples, rather than keeping awake, have I instead fallen asleep! How many times have I failed to find the time or the desire to pray, whether from weariness, distraction, or dullness of mind and heart! Lord Jesus, say once more to me and to us, your Church: “Get up and pray” (Lk 22:46). Rouse us, Lord! Awaken our hearts from their lethargy, for today too — today above all — you count on our prayer. 

First station: Jesus is condemned to death 

“Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, ‘Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?’ But he was silent and did not answer… Pilate again asked him, ‘Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.’ But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed” (Mk 14:60-61; 15:4-5). 

Jesus, you are life itself, and now you are sentenced to death. You are truth itself, and now you are falsely put on trial. Why don’t you protest? Why don’t you speak up and defend yourself? Why don’t you confound the learned and powerful, as you did so often and so well? Your reaction troubles us, Jesus: at the decisive moment, you choose not to speak; you remain silent. Because the more potent evil is, the more radical is your response. And that response is silence. Yet that silence is itself pregnant: it is prayer, meekness, forgiveness; it is a means of redeeming evil, a means of converting your passion into a sacrificial gift. Jesus, I realize how little I know you, for I find it hard to understand your silence. Amid the frantic pace of my life, my absorption with the things of this world, my struggle to keep up with others or my need to be at the center of attention, I fail to find time to stop and be with you. To allow you, Word of the Father, ever silently at work, to act in my life. Jesus, I find your silence troubling. It makes me realize that prayer is not about lips that move but a heart that listens, for to pray is to become open to your word, and to adore your presence. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Speak to my heart, Jesus. 

You, who respond to evil with good, 

Speak to my heart, Jesus. 

You, who calm rage with meekness, 

Speak to my heart, Jesus.

You, who detest gossip and complaints, 

Speak to my heart, Jesus.

You, who peer into the depths of my heart, 

Speak to my heart, Jesus. 

You, who love me more than I do myself, 

Speak to my heart, Jesus. 

Second station: Jesus carries his cross 

“He bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pt 2:24). 

Jesus, we too have our crosses to bear. At times, they are heavy indeed: illness, an accident, the death of a dear one, disappointment in love, a child gone astray, a lost job, a hurt that will not heal, a failed project, the frustration of yet another hope… Jesus, how do I pray in those situations? What am I to do when I feel crushed by life, heavy of heart, under pressure, and lacking the strength to go on? Your answer is an invitation: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). “Come to me.” Yet I take refuge in myself: I brood, I nurse my griefs, I wallow in negativity. Come to me. Saying this was not enough; you came to us and you took our cross upon your shoulders to lighten its weight. You want us to lay upon your shoulders all our problems and needs, because you want us to find freedom and love in you. Thank you, Jesus. I unite my cross to yours, I bring you my weariness and my cares, I cast upon you every burden of my heart. 

Let us pray together and say: 

I come to you, Lord. 

With the story of my life, 

I come to you, Lord. 

With all my cares, 

I come to you, Lord. 

With all my frailty and shortcomings, 

I come to you, Lord. 

With all my fears, 

I come to you, Lord. 

With complete trust in your love for me, 

I come to you, Lord.

Third station: Jesus falls the first time 

“Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24). 

Jesus, you have fallen. What are you thinking, how are you praying, prostrate in the dust? Above all, what gives you the strength to pick yourself up again? As you lie face-down on the ground, unable to see the sky above, I imagine you praying in your heart: Father, who art in heaven. The loving gaze of the Father is the source of your strength. At the same time, I imagine that, as you kiss the cold dry ground, you think of man, formed from the dust of the earth. You think of all of us whom you hold in your heart, and you repeat once again the words of your testament: “This is my body, which is given for you” (Lk 22:19). The Father’s love for you and your love for us: that love is the force that makes you get up and go forward. For those who love do not stay down but start over again; those who love do not tire, but keep going; those who love take wing and fly. Jesus, I keep asking you for many things, but there is only one thing that I need, and that is the ability to love. I will fall often in life, but with your love, I will be able to pick myself up and go forward, even as you did. For you know what it means to fall. Your life was a constant descent for our sake: from God to man, from man to slave, from slave to crucifixion and the tomb. Like the seed that falls to the ground and dies, you came down in order to lift us up from the earth and bring us to heaven. You, who raise us from the dust and give us new hope, grant me the strength to love and to begin anew. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Jesus, give me the strength to love and begin anew. 

When I am overcome by disappointment, 

Jesus, give me the strength to love and begin anew. 

When I am weighed down by the judgments of others, 

Jesus, give me the strength to love and begin anew. 

When things go wrong and I lose my patience, 

Jesus, give me the strength to love and begin anew. 

When I feel that I cannot go on, 

Jesus, give me the strength to love and begin anew. 

When I fear that nothing will ever change, 

Jesus, give me the strength to love and begin anew. 

Fourth station: Jesus meets his mother 

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home” (Jn 19:26-27). 

Jesus, your disciples abandoned you, Judas betrayed you and Peter denied you. You are left alone with your cross. Yet your Mother is there for you. She needs no words, it is enough to look into her eyes that understand and share in your suffering. Jesus, in Mary’s eyes, bright with tears, you see mirrored the tender love, the warm caresses and the loving embrace that surrounded and sustained you from your earliest years. A mother’s eyes remind us too of all the goodness we have known. All of us need a mother to bring us into the world, but also to help us find our proper place in the world. You know this, and, from the cross, you give us your own mother. Here is your mother, you say to your disciple and to each of us. After the gift of the Eucharist, you gave us Mary as your final, parting gift. Jesus, on your journey you drew strength from the memory of her love; my journey too needs to be grounded in the memory of all the goodness I have known. Yet I realize how little room I make in my prayer for grateful remembrance. My prayer is all too hurried, a quick list of things I need for today and tomorrow. Mary, stop me from rushing. Help me to recall and cherish the graces I have received, to remember God’s forgiveness and his blessings, to revive my first love, to savor anew the wonders of his providence, and to shed tears of gratitude. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Lord, renew in me the memory of your love. 

When the wounds of the past are reopened, 

Lord, renew in me the memory of your love. 

When I lose my sense of reality, 

Lord, renew in me the memory of your love. 

When I take for granted all the gifts I have received, 

Lord, renew in me the memory of your love. 

When I lose sight of the gift that I am, 

Lord, renew in me the memory of your love. 

When I neglect to give you thanks, 

Lord, renew in me the memory of your love. 

Fifth station: Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene 

“As the soldiers led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus” (Lk 23:26). 

Jesus, how often in the face of life’s challenges we think that we can go it alone! How hard we find it to ask for help, lest we give the impression that we are not up to the task! What pains we take to put ourselves in the best light, to put on a good show! It is not easy to trust others, and even less to depend on them. Yet those who pray know their needs, and you, Jesus, in your own prayer, knew what it meant to entrust yourself completely. So you did not refuse the help offered by the man from Cyrene. You allowed this simple man, a farmer returning from the fields, to witness your weakness. Thank you, Jesus, because, by letting yourself be helped in your need, you have shown us the image of a God who is not distant and untouchable. In your vulnerability, you have shown us the triumph of your love. You have taught us that to love means to reach out to those who may be ashamed to ask for our help. In this way, weakness becomes an opportunity for growth. That is what happened to Simon of Cyrene. Your weakness changed his life; one day he will realize that he helped his Savior and was redeemed by the very cross he carried. Jesus, grant that my life too may change. Help me lower my defenses and allow you to love me in those places where I have fallen most grievously. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Heal me, Jesus. 

From the presumption of self-sufficiency, 

Heal me, Jesus. 

From thinking that I can do without you or anyone else, 

Heal me, Jesus. 

From my obsession with being perfect, 

Heal me, Jesus. 

From my reluctance to entrust my frailty to you, 

Heal me, Jesus. 

From hurrying past the needy whom I encounter on my way, 

Heal me, Jesus.

Sixth station: Jesus is comforted by Veronica, who wipes his face 

“Blessed be God, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction… For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ” (2 Cor 1:3-5). 

Jesus, crowds of people witness the brutal spectacle of your execution. Without knowing you or knowing the truth, they make judgments, they cast aspersions, they mock you and condemn you. The same thing happens even now, Lord, without the need for a gruesome parade: all it takes is a keyboard to spew insults and condemnation. Yet amid the roar of the crowd, a woman makes her way to Jesus. She says nothing; she acts. She does not rant and rail; she shows mercy and compassion. She goes against the tide: alone, with the courage of compassion and love, she finds a way to pass among the soldiers, merely to give you the comfort of a caress. Her gesture of mercy will be remembered for all time. Jesus, how often I ask you to be consoled! Veronica reminds me that you too want to be consoled. You, the God who draws near to us, ask us to draw near to you. You, my comfort, desire to be comforted by me. Jesus, Love unrequited, today too you look among the crowd for hearts sensitive to your suffering and pain. You seek true worshippers, those who adore in spirit and truth (cf. Jn 4:23), and abide in you (cf. Jn 15). Jesus, Love forsaken, awaken in me the desire to remain in your presence, to adore you and to console you. Grant that, in your name, I may be a source of consolation for others. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Make me a witness of your consolation. 

God of mercy, ever close to the heartbroken, 

Make me a witness of your consolation. 

God of tender love, who take pity on us, 

Make me a witness of your consolation. 

God of compassion, who detest apathy and indifference, 

Make me a witness of your consolation. 

You, who are grieved when I point a finger at others, 

Make me a witness of your consolation. 

You, who came not to condemn but to save, 

Make me a witness of your consolation. 

Seventh station: Jesus falls again beneath the weight of the cross 

“[The younger son] came to himself and said… ‘I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned”’ … So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said… ‘This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’” (Lk 15:17-18, 20-22, 24). 

Jesus, the cross is heavy: It bears all the weight of disappointment, failure, and humiliation. I realize this whenever I feel overwhelmed, beleaguered, and misunderstood; when I am weighed down by the burdens of responsibility and work, when I find myself in the grip of anxiety and desperation, and keep saying to myself: “This is it; this time you won’t get back up.” And it only gets worse. Every time I fall back into my sins and faults, I hit rock bottom: I am critical of others and then realize that I am no different. There is nothing worse than self-remorse and the overwhelming sense of guilt. Jesus, you fell again and again beneath the weight of the cross, and so you are at my side whenever I stumble and fall. With you, hope always springs anew; after every fall, I can get up again. When I stumble, you do not give up on me but draw even closer. Thank you for watching over me. Thank you, because I fall so often, yet you never cease to forgive me. Keep reminding me that every fall can become a crucial step on my journey, since it helps me to realize the one thing that matters: my need for you. Jesus, plant in my heart the firm realization that I truly rise only when you lift me up, when you set me free from my sins. For life begins anew not from my resolutions, but from your forgiveness. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Raise me up, Jesus. 

When I am disheartened, dismayed, and discouraged, 

Raise me up, Jesus. 

When I recognize my failings and feel worthless, 

Raise me up, Jesus. 

When I feel overwhelmed by feelings of shame and inadequacy, 

Raise me up, Jesus. 

When I am tempted to lose hope, 

Raise me up, Jesus. 

When I forget that my strength lies in your forgiveness, 

Raise me up, Jesus. 

Eighth station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem 

“A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him” (Lk 23:27). 

Jesus, who remains with you to the end along the way of the cross? Not the powerful, who wait for you on Calvary, nor the onlookers standing at a distance, but those ordinary people who are great in your eyes, yet small in the eyes of the world. There are the women, in whom you inspired hope: They have no voice, yet they make their presence felt. Help us to recognize the dignity of those women who remained faithful and stood by you in your passion, and those who in our own day are exploited and endure injustice and indignity. Jesus, the women you encounter beat their breasts and weep for you. They do not weep for themselves, but for you; they weep for the evil and sin of the world. Their tearful prayers touch your heart. Is my own prayer capable of tears? Am I moved as I gaze upon you, crucified for my sake, and contemplate your gentle, wounded love? Do I grieve for my hypocrisy and my infidelity? When I am faced with the tragedies of today’s world, is my heart frozen or does it melt? How do I react when I see the madness of war, the faces of children no longer able to smile and of mothers who see them hungry and underfed, and have no more tears to shed? Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem; you weep over the hardness of our hearts. Touch my heart; add tears to my prayer and prayer to my tears. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Jesus, melt my hardened heart. 

You know the secrets of every heart, 

Jesus, melt my hardened heart. 

You are grieved by the hardness of our hearts, 

Jesus, melt my hardened heart. 

You love hearts that are humble and contrite, 

Jesus, melt my hardened heart. 

You dried Peter’s tears by your forgiveness, 

Jesus, melt my hardened heart. 

You turn our mourning into song, 

Jesus, melt my hardened heart. 

Ninth station: Jesus is stripped of his garments 

“‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ … And he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me’” (Mt 25:37-40). 

Jesus, you spoke these words before your passion. Now I know why you insisted on identifying yourself with those in need. You too were imprisoned; you too were a stranger, led outside the city to be crucified. You too were naked, stripped of your clothes. You too were sick and wounded; on the cross, you too were thirsty and hungered for love. Teach me to see you in those who suffer, for you are there, and in those stripped of their dignity, demeaned by the arrogance, injustice and power of those who exploit the poor amid general indifference. I look at you, Jesus, stripped of your garments, and I realize that you are asking me to strip myself of so many unnecessary things. For you do not look at appearances, but at the heart, and you ask for a prayer that is not empty but rich in love. Divested of everything, divest me in the same way. Words are cheap. Do I really love you in the poor, your wounded flesh? Do I pray for those stripped of their dignity? Or do I pray only for my own needs and garb myself in my own certainties? Jesus, your truth lays me bare and forces me to focus on what really matters: on you, the crucified Lord, and our crucified brothers and sisters. Grant that I may understand this now, lest I be found naked, bereft of love, when I stand before you on the last day. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Strip me, Lord Jesus.

Of my attachment to appearances, 

Strip me, Lord Jesus.

Of my armor of indifference, 

Strip me, Lord Jesus. 

Of my idea that helping others is not my job, 

Strip me, Lord Jesus. 

Of empty words and routine prayer, 

Strip me, Lord Jesus. 

Of the notion that life is good if it is good for me, 

Strip me, Lord Jesus. 

Tenth station: Jesus is nailed to the cross 

“When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’” (Lk 23:33-34). 

Jesus, they pierce your arms and legs with nails, tearing through your flesh; yet even now, when your physical pain is most excruciating, you utter the unthinkable prayer: You forgive the very ones who drive nails into your wrists. Nor is this the first time, for so many other times, as the Gospel tells us, you repeated: “Father, forgive…” With you, Jesus, I too can find courage to embrace the forgiveness that sets our hearts free and enables life to begin anew. Lord, it was not enough for you to forgive us; you also excused us before the Father: “for they do not know what they are doing.” You take our side, you become our advocate, you intercede on our behalf. Now your hands that blessed and healed are nailed fast; now your feet that brought glad tidings to the poor can no longer move; now, in utter helplessness, you show us the triumphant power of prayer. Atop Golgotha, you reveal to us the heights of intercessory prayer, which brings salvation to the world. Jesus, let me pray not merely for myself and for my dear ones, but also for those who do not love me and for those who hurt me. Let me pray, according to the intentions of your heart, for those who wander far from you. Let me make reparation for, and intercede for, all those who do not know you or the joy of experiencing your love and forgiveness.

Let us pray together and say: 

Father, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 

Through the sorrowful passion of Jesus, 

Father, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 

Through the power of his wounds, 

Father, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 

Through his forgiveness offered on the cross, 

Father, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 

For all those who forgive others out of love for you, 

Father, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 

By the prayers of all those who believe and hope in you, adore you and love you, 

Father, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 

Eleventh station: Jesus’ cry of abandonment 

“From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Mt 27:45-46). 

Jesus, this prayer of yours is unexpected: You cry out to the Father in your abandonment. You, the eternal Son, dispense no answers from on high, but simply ask why? At the height of your passion, you experience the distance of the Father; you no longer even call him “Father,” but “God,” almost as if you can no longer glimpse his face. Why? So that you can plunge into the abyss of our pain. You did this for my sake, 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. When you asked the question why, you did it in the words of a Psalm. You made even the utmost experience of desolation into a prayer. As we too must do, amid the storms of life. Rather than keeping silent, closed in on ourselves, we should cry out to you. Glory to you, Lord Jesus, for you did not flee from my pain and confusion, but tasted them to the full. Praise and glory to you, for you bridged every distance in order to draw near to those who were farthest from you. In my own dark night, when I keep asking why, I find you, Jesus, the light that shines in the darkness. And in the plea of all those who are alone, rejected, oppressed or abandoned, I find you, my God. May I always recognize your presence and turn to you in love. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Jesus, help me to recognize you and love you. 

In unborn and abandoned children, 

Jesus, help me to recognize you and love you. 

In young people who long for someone to hear their cry of pain, 

Jesus, help me to recognize you and love you. 

In the many elderly people left alone and forgotten, 

Jesus, help me to recognize you and love you. 

In prisoners and in the lonely, 

Jesus, help me to recognize you and love you. 

In those peoples most exploited and ignored, 

Jesus, help me to recognize you and love you. 

Twelfth station: Jesus dies, commending himself to the Father and the good thief to paradise 

“[One of the criminals who were crucified with him] said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise’ … Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last” (Lk 23:42-43.46). 

A criminal in paradise! He entrusts himself to you, Jesus, and you entrust him, along with yourself, to the Father. God of the impossible, you turn a thief into a saint. And not only that: On Calvary you change the course of history. You turn the cross, the emblem of torture, into the very icon of love. You make the wall of death a bridge to life. You turn darkness into light, division into fellowship, sorrow into dancing. You even turn the tomb, the last outpost of life, into a doorway of hope. All these reversals you bring about in union with us, and never without us. Jesus, remember me! This heartfelt prayer was all it took to work a miracle in the life of that criminal. Such is the amazing power of prayer. At times, I may feel that my prayers go unheard, yet what is most important is to persevere, to persist, to keep saying to you: “Jesus, remember me!” If you remember me, my evil will no longer be an endpoint but a new beginning. Remember me: welcome me once more into your heart, even when I stray, when I lose my way in the tumult of life. Remember me, Jesus, for to be remembered by you — as the Good Thief shows us — is to enter into paradise. Above all, remind me, Jesus, that my prayer can change the course of history. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Jesus, remember me. 

When hope fades and disappointment reigns, 

Jesus, remember me. 

When I am powerless to make a decision, 

Jesus, remember me. 

When I lose faith in myself and in others, 

Jesus, remember me. 

When I lose sight of the immensity of your love, 

Jesus, remember me. 

When I think that all my prayers are fruitless, 

Jesus, remember me. 

Thirteenth station: Jesus is taken down from the cross and placed in the arms of Mary 

“Simeon said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed… and a sword will pierce your own soul too’” (Lk 2:33-35). 

Mary, because you said “yes,” the Word took flesh in your womb. Now his broken body lies on your lap. The child you once cradled in your arms is now a mangled corpse. Yet even now, in the depths of your grief, you demonstrate your complete self-abandonment. A sword has pierced your soul, yet in your prayer, you continue to say “yes”’ to God. We find it so hard to say “yes”; more often we say “but”: but if I had better parents, but if I had been better understood and loved, but if my career had taken off, but if I hadn’t had that problem or that illness, but if God had only granted my request... We keep asking why things happen as they do, and so we find it hard to live the present moment with love. You, Mary, could have had any number of “ifs” to say to God, but you persisted in saying “yes.” Steadfast in your faith, you believed that sorrow, experienced in love, bears saving fruit. That with God, suffering never has the final word. As you hold the lifeless body of Jesus in your arms, you hear once more his last words to you: Behold your son. Mother, I am that son! Take me into your arms and tend my wounds. Help me to say “yes” to God, “yes” to love. Mother of mercy, we live in a merciless age and we yearn for compassion and understanding. In the strength of your love, anoint us with the balm of meekness. Overcome the resistance of our hearts and untie the knots of our souls. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Mary, take my hand. 

When I indulge in recrimination and self-pity, 

Mary, take my hand. 

When I give up and succumb to my failings, 

Mary, take my hand. 

When I am weak and find it hard to say “yes” to God, 

Mary, take my hand. 

When I am indulgent with myself and unbending with others, 

Mary, take my hand. 

When I want the Church and the world to change, yet refuse to change myself, 

Mary, take my hand. 

Fourteenth station: Jesus is placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea 

“When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus… Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock” (Mt 27:57-60). 

Joseph. The name that, along with the name of Mary, appears at the dawn of Christ’s coming, now returns at the first light of Easter. Joseph of Nazareth had a dream and courageously took Jesus and saved him from Herod. You, Joseph of Arimathea, now take his body, without realizing that something incredible and wonderful would happen there, in the tomb you provided for Jesus when all seemed lost. Yet how true it is that every gift given to God receives an even greater reward. Joseph of Arimathea, you are a prophet of boldness and courage. To bestow your gift on one who was dead, you approach the dreaded Pilate and ask permission to bury Jesus in the tomb that you had prepared for yourself. Your plea is insistent and you do what you said. Joseph, remind us that persevering prayer bears fruit and overcomes even the darkness of death. Love never goes unanswered, but always grants new beginnings. Your tomb, which — alone in history — would be the wellspring of new life, was itself new, freshly hewn from the rock. As for me, what new gift will I give Jesus this Easter? A little more time to spend with him? A little more love for others? My fears and my buried sorrows, which Christ is waiting for me to offer to him, as you did with your tomb? It will truly be Easter if only I give something of myself to the One who gave his life for me. For it is in giving that we receive, and we find our lives whenever we lose them, our possessions whenever we give them away. 

Let us pray together and say: 

Have mercy, Lord. 

On me, so loath to be converted, 

Have mercy, Lord.

On me, so prone to take and so reluctant to give, 

Have mercy, Lord. 

On me, who find it so hard to surrender to your love, 

Have mercy, Lord. 

On us, so ready to use things but so slow to serve others, 

Have mercy, Lord. 

On our world, dotted with sepulchers of selfishness, 

Have mercy, Lord. 

Concluding Invocations to the Holy Name of Jesus 

Lord, we lift our prayer to you, like the poor, the needy and the sick in the Gospels, who called upon you in the simplest and most direct of ways: by crying out your name. 

Jesus, your name itself saves, for you are our salvation. 

Jesus, you are my life. I need you, lest I go astray, for you forgive me and raise me up; you bring healing to my heart and give meaning to my pain. 

Jesus, you took my evil upon yourself. From the cross, you do not accuse me but embrace me. Meek and humble of heart, heal me of jealousy and resentment; set me free from suspicion and distrust. 

Jesus, as I contemplate you on the cross, I find pure love, the meaning of my life and the goal of my journey. Help me to love and forgive, to leave behind my impatience and indifference, and not to feel sorry for myself. 

Jesus, on the cross you thirsted. You thirsted for my love and my prayer; you count on them, in bringing to fulfillment your plan of goodness and peace. 

Jesus, I thank you for all those who answer your call and persevere in prayer, firm faith and constancy in confronting every challenge and difficulty. 

Jesus, I lift up to you the pastors of your flock, whose prayer sustains your holy people. May they make time to dwell in your presence and may they conform their hearts to your own. 

Jesus, I praise you for those contemplatives, male and female, whose prayer, hidden from the world and pleasing to you, sustains the Church and our human family. 

Jesus, I bring before you all those families and individuals who have prayed with us tonight in their homes: the elderly, especially those who live alone, and the sick, the treasures of the Church, who unite their sufferings to your own. 

Jesus, may this prayer of intercession embrace our brothers and sisters who in so many parts of the world are suffering persecution on account of your name; those who experience the trauma of war, and all those who look to you for the strength to bear their heavy crosses. 

Jesus, by your cross, you have made us one. Bring believers into deeper communion, help us to grow in fraternity and forbearance, to cooperate with one another, and to journey together. Grant lasting peace to your Church throughout the world. 

Jesus, just judge who will one day call me by name, free me from hasty judgment, gossip, and violent and offensive words. 

Jesus, in the hour of your death, you said: “It is finished.” I have not yet finished the course of my life, yet I continue to trust in you, for you are my hope, the hope of the Church, and the hope of our world. 

Jesus, let me say one last word to you, and to say it over and over again: Thank you! Thank you, my Lord and my God!

Pope Francis arrives at the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter's Basilica on Good Friday on April 7, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Mar 29, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The Good Friday liturgy commemorates the apex of Christ’s passion with a remembrance of his crucifixion and death at Calvary. 

The Good Friday Reproaches are a series of antiphons, known also as the “Improperia” or “Popule Meus” (“My people”), coming from the opening lines of the Latin text of the recitation. 

Dating back to the ninth century, though not gaining a permanent place in the Roman Orders until the 14th century, the Good Friday Reproaches have long been an essential part of the Roman liturgy. But they largely disappeared from many parishes following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

The antiphons have, however, retained their prominence at the Vatican — and they will be chanted by the Sistine Chapel Choir during the Good Friday service presided over by Pope Francis on Friday in St. Peter’s Basilica.

In the moment leading up to the dramatic recitation, the priest chants three times, in an increasing pitch, “Ecce Lignum Crucis,” or “Behold the wood of the cross,” each time gradually unveiling the cross that hitherto has been covered in a purple veil. 

Once the crucifix is placed in a central location at the edge of the sanctuary, cast against a bare altar, the faithful are invited to kneel before — and kiss — it, a powerful remembrance of Christ’s passion but also a recognition of the cross as an instrument of salvation. 

During the adoration of the cross, the Good Friday Reproaches are chanted in an alternating manner between a cantor and choir. It opens: “Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi” (“My people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me”).

This hauntingly sorrowful and beautiful text is followed by the first reproach: “Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti: parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo” (“Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt: thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior”), showcasing the world’s fatal rejection of Christ despite his love and saving acts.

The following is the full text of the reproaches:

Popule meus, quid feci tibi?
Aut in quo contristavi te?
Responde mihi.
(O my people, what have I done to thee?
Or how have I offended you?
Answer me.)

Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti:
parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
(Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt:
thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.)

Hagios o Theos.
Sanctus Deus.
Hagios Ischyros.
Sanctus fortis.
Hagios Athanatos, eleison himas.
Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis.
(O holy God!
O holy God!
O holy strong One!
O holy strong One!
O holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.
O holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.)

Quia eduxi te per desertum quadraginta annis:
et manna cibavi te, et introduxi te in terram satis bonam:
parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.
Hagios . . .
(Because I led thee through the desert for forty years:
and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a land exceeding good:
thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.
O holy God! . . .)

Quid ultra debui facere tibi, et non feci?
Ego quidem plantavi te vineam meam speciosissimam:
et tu facta es mihi nimis amara:
aceto namque sitim meam potasti:
et lancea perforasti latus Salvatori tuo.
Hagios . . .
(What more ought I to have done for thee, that I have not done?
I planted thee, indeed, my most beautiful vineyard:
and thou hast become exceeding bitter to me:
for in my thirst thou gavest me vinegar to drink:
and with a spear thou hast pierced the side of thy Savior.
O holy God! . . .)

Ego propter te flagellavi Aegyptum cum primogenitis suis:
et tu me flagellatum tradidisti.
Popule meus . . .
(For thy sake I scourged the firstborn of Egypt:
Thou hast given me up to be scourged.
O my people . . .)

Ego te eduxi de Aegypto, demerso Pharone in mare Rubrum:
et tu me tradidisti principibus sacerdotum.
Popule meus . . .
(I led thee out of Egypt, having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
and thou hast delivered me to the chief priests.
O my people . . .)

Ego ante te aperui mare:
et tu aperuisti lancea latus meum.
Popule meus . . .
(I opened the sea before thee:
and thou hast opened my side with a spear.
O my people . . .)

Ego ante te praeivi in columna nubis:
et tu me duxisti ad praetorium Pilati.
Popule meus . . .
(I went before thee in a pillar of cloud:
and thou hast led me to the judgment hall of Pilate.
O my people . . .)

Ego te pavi manna in desertum:
et tu me cedisti alapis et flagellis.
Popule meus . . .
(I fed thee with manna in the desert:
and thou hast assaulted me with blows and scourges.
O my people . . .)

Ego te potavi aqua salutis de petra:
et tu me potasti felle et aceto.
Popule meus . . .
(I gave thee the water of salvation from the rock:
and thou hast given me gall and vinegar to drink.
O my people . . .)

Ego propter te Chananeorum reges percussi:
et tu percussisti arundine caput meum.
Popule meus . . .
(For thy sake I struck the kings of the Canaanites:
and thou hast struck my head with a reed.
O my people . . .)

Ego dedi tibi sceptrum regale:
et tu dedisti capiti meo spineam coronam.
Popule meus . . .
(I gave thee a royal scepter:
and thou hast given a crown of thorns for my head.
O my people . . .)

Ego te exaltavi magna virtute:
et tu me suspendisti in patibulo crucis.
Popule meus . . .
(I exalted thee with great strength:
and thou hast hanged me on the gibbet of the cross.
O my people . . .)

Cardinal Mario Grech and Pope Francis at the conclusion of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 28, 2023. / Credit: National Catholic Register / Vatican Media

National Catholic Register, Mar 29, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

If Cardinal Mario Grech held nearly any office other than the one he does, his recent comments in favor of the female diaconate and against the need for “uniformity of thought” in the universal Church might not be so significant.

After all, when prelates offer their theological opinions, it’s generally taken as just that — an individual Church leader’s theological opinion.

But Grech isn’t an ordinary prelate — he heads the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Synod. And just one week before his March 21 interview with an Italian-language Swiss publication, Pope Francis had tasked the Maltese cardinal with implementing 10 study groups to focus on themes raised at the 2023 Synod on Synodality assembly. Among them: the possibility of “women’s access to the diaconate” and “shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues” in a way that pays “greater attention to the diversity of situations” in different parts of the world.

In other words, the cardinal’s comments can’t help but be read in the context of the study groups and how Grech might intend to lead them, contributing to an already sizable list of concerns about the approach.

In the interview, Grech said that a female diaconate (unspecified whether ordained or not) would not be a “revolution” but a “natural deepening of the Lord’s will.”

The Maltese cardinal also said that Church communion should take the form of a “unity of differences” rather than “uniformity of thought” and described his vision of the Church as a “rainbow,” with more flexibility in pastoral approaches and teaching in different places.

Grech’s apparent support for some form of female deacons is likely to reinforce suspicions that the study groups are being set up to achieve predetermined outcomes that the synod couldn’t deliver. And his views on Church unity, which seem rooted in a disputed understanding of Vatican II’s doctrine on the relation between particular Churches and the universal Church, and was emphasized at the 2023 synod assembly by the likes of the progressive German prelate Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck, will likely heighten concerns about the ecclesiological commitments animating the study groups and the selection of its members.

Credibility on the line

Grech’s comments are not the first time synodal leadership’s public freelancing has brought into question the project’s credibility. But they come at a particularly challenging time for the Synod on Synodality. Both the shift to study groups and also the Vatican’s recent promotion of nonliturgical same-sex blessings that “bypassed synodality” have raised questions about whether the final synod assembly, which will take place Oct. 2–27 in Rome, will have much significance at all.

Even before the Vatican official’s interview, one synod participant stressed that steps would need to be taken to ensure that the study groups are seen as a credible part of the synodal process.

“Much will depend on how transparent the findings of the groups are and how they will be seen to link into the first assembly and synthesis document,” the Australian philosopher Renee Köhler-Ryan, who was a vocal opponent of the push for attempted women’s ordination at the October 2023 assembly, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner.

In his interview, Grech described the decision to create study groups, which are expected to work through June 2025, as a “new thing” that emerged out of Pope Francis’ attentive “listening” to the October 2023 assembly.

Participants at that gathering did call for further study on relevant theological and canonical topics. But the plain reading of the synthesis document was that those study groups would be at the service of the synodal assembly, providing feedback at the October 2024 session that would be incorporated into the assembly’s deliberations and final recommendations to Pope Francis.

By giving the study groups a mandate that extends beyond the synod assembly itself — and by shifting a significant number of topics away from the purview of the upcoming October synodal gathering (which will focus more narrowly on “How to be a synodal Church on mission”) — the Vatican has arguably done the opposite: reduced the Synod on Synodality to an auxiliary of the study groups.

In other words, the potential for significant change has been shifted to the study groups and away from the synod — a somewhat shocking development considering that the synod has been billed by its organizers as the most important ecclesial event since the Second Vatican Council.

Other questions

The relation between the Synod on Synodality and the newly minted study groups isn’t the only question hanging over the new approach.

A crucial one is who will actually be in the groups. In addition to members of the relevant Vatican dicasteries, the guiding document calls for “experts from all continents” in order to ensure that the 10 groups proceed in an “authentically synodal manner,” but names have yet to be released.

The topic is a major concern, because the Synod on Synodality has arguably been animated by a bias toward the views and concerns of those from the secular West. 

For instance, while the term “LGBTQ+” was rejected by the 2023 assembly and not included in its synthesis document, it had been repeatedly used in the preparatory documents produced by the Secretariat of the Synod. Relatedly, Pope Francis’ personal nominees for the Synod on Synodality were disproportionately European and North American, as were the selected theological experts. 

Some study group members are already known, as the Vatican indicates the respective dicasteries (none of which are currently led by an African, a notable break from precedent) that will collaborate on a given theme. 

For instance, Cardinal Victor Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and Pope Francis’ close confidant, is tapped to play a key role in the study groups dealing with the women diaconate question (Group 5) and reassessing the Church’s understanding of the human person, theology of salvation, and ethics (Group 9).

Additionally, Pope Francis recently named six new consultors to the Secretariat of the Synod, possibly in anticipation of the robust role that the office will play in the various synodal study groups. Father Ormond Rush, an Australian theologian who is a leading advocate of “inverting the pyramid” of the Church’s structure to place a controversial understanding of “sense of the faithful” in the determination of doctrine, was among those added.

The study groups’ mandate well beyond the end of the synod itself has raised eyebrows, but it isn’t the only question of timing being raised.

Some wonder if setting a deadline 14 months from now for the groups to deliver answers on such varied and complex questions is a constructive approach.

“It seems to me that doing a thorough job on the questions before June 2025 may be expecting too much,” Dominican Father Anthony Akinwale, the theological adviser of the Nigerian bishops’ delegation to the Synod on Synodality, told the Register.

Foundational issues

Some have argued that implementing the study groups has effectively lowered the temperature of the synod, giving no room either in the study groups nor at the October assembly for controversial topics like pastoral care for people who identify as LGBTQ+ or the attempted ordination of women to the priesthood.

But this isn’t the full story. While these items aren’t explicitly mentioned in themes being explored by the study groups, the new bodies will take up foundational considerations that could end up shaping the Church’s response to those more particular issues.

For instance, the study group on “shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues” is being tasked to “reinterpret the traditional categories of anthropology, soteriology, and theological ethics with a view to better clarifying the relationship between charity and truth.” Two criteria for this reinterpretation are the ways in which pastoral care should allegedly shape doctrine, and “attentive listening to the voice of the local Churches” and the diversity of situations they face.

The theme is highly significant, and the group’s findings could impact the Church’s teaching and pastoral care related to everything from contraception to gender identity. This was anticipated by German Bishop Georg Bätzing, the head of the German bishops’ conference who said after the October 2023 assembly that the synthesis document’s call to revisit the Church’s anthropological formulations was a “huge step forward,” and presumably a vindication of the controversial Synodal Way.

Synod participants like Köhler-Ryan, however, stress that who is asked to participate in that study group will determine the direction it goes in.

“It will be very important that the group on human anthropology retains its prophetic vision, reading what it means to be human in the light of the new Adam and new Eve, Christ and Mary, rather than through prevalent secular ideologies,” she told the Register.

In addition to the 10 study groups, the Vatican’s March 14 announcement also called for the activation of a “permanent forum,” which would essentially promote “synodality” in all areas of the Church. Given the ambiguities still surrounding the term, and the fact that this permanent forum itself would have a role in defining it, its potential impact also deserves continued scrutiny.

Whatever the permanent forum and the study groups come up with, Akinwale emphasizes the need to clarify the content and purpose of the Church’s mission as presented in the Gospel. He shared that he’s been talking to a university student in Nigeria who doesn’t believe in the passion narrative but thinks “it’s a folk story.”

“Are we ready to preach a crucified Christ?” he said to the Register. “That question needs to be part of our synodal missionary equation.”

This article was first published in the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, and has been adapted for CNA.

Pope Francis kisses the foot of one of the 12 women whose feet he washed at the Rebibbia Women’s Prison in Rome on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Mar 28, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Thursday washed the feet of 12 prisoners at a prison facility in Rome, with the pontiff continuing a regular tradition of holding the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at local penitentiaries.

The Holy Father told female inmates at the Rebibbia correctional facility, located about six miles from Vatican City, that Jesus “never tires of forgiving” but rather “we are the ones who get tired of asking for forgiveness.”

“We all have our small or big failures — everyone has their own story. But the Lord always awaits us, with his arms open, and never tires of forgiving,” the Holy Father said, according to Vatican News.

The pope during the Mass washed the feet of 12 of the female prisoners present. The dozen inmates were of “different nationalities,” the Vatican said.

The pope subsequently “met with the inmates and staff of the penitentiary” and received several gifts including products from the prison complex’s farm.

In years past, Francis has traveled to prisons and other facilities in and around Rome to wash the feet of marginalized individuals.

In 2023 he washed the feet of 12 young men and women at the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention center on Rome’s outskirts.

Francis instituted the custom shortly after the start of his papacy. After visiting the Casal del Marmo youth detention center in 2013, he presided at Holy Thursday Masses at a center for the disabled in 2014, the Rebibbia New Complex Prison in 2015, a center for asylum seekers in 2016, Paliano prison in 2017, Rome’s historic Regina Coeli prison in 2018, and Velletri men’s prison in 2019.

The Holy Father skipped the tradition in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pope Francis presides at the Vatican's chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Mar 28, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).

On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis presided over a chrism Mass at which more than 1,880 priests, bishops, and cardinals renewed the promises made at their ordinations.

Pope Francis encouraged the priests to turn their gaze upon the crucified Lord and to weep over their sins in repentance, saying that tears can “purify and heal the heart.”

“Once we recognize our sin, our hearts can be opened to the working of the Holy Spirit, the source of living water that wells up within us and brings tears to our eyes,” Francis said on March 28.

“The Lord seeks, especially in those consecrated to him, men and women who weep for the sins of the Church and the world and become intercessors on behalf of all,” he added.

Forty-two cardinals, 42 bishops, and 1,800 priests living in Rome concelebrated the Mass with the pope in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Holy Thursday marks the institution of the Eucharist and institution of the sacrament of the priesthood at the Last Supper. Pope Francis will also preside over a Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday evening at a women’s prison in Rome.

The 87-year-old pope arrived in St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday morning in a wheelchair. Before giving his more than 20-minute homily, the pope took a sip of water and put on his reading glasses.

Pope Francis reflected in his homily on Peter’s tears after denying the Lord three times as recorded in the Gospel of Luke: “Peter remembered the word of the Lord … and went out and wept bitterly.”

“Dear brother priests, the healing of the heart of Peter, the healing of the apostle, the healing of the pastor, came about when, grief-stricken and repentant, he allowed himself to be forgiven by Jesus. That healing took place amid tears, bitter weeping, and the sorrow that leads to renewed love,” he said.

Compunction

Pope Francis said that he wanted to speak to the priests about the importance of compunction — an awareness of guilt due to sin — which the pope admitted is a “somewhat old-fashioned” term and “an aspect of the spiritual life that has been somewhat neglected, yet remains essential.”

The pope added that compunction “is not a sense of guilt that makes us discouraged or obsessed with our unworthiness, but a beneficial ‘piercing’ that purifies and heals the heart.”

“Compunction demands effort but bestows peace. It is not a source of anxiety but of healing for the soul, since it acts as a balm upon the wounds of sin, preparing us to receive the caress of the heavenly physician, who transforms the ‘broken, contrite heart,’” Pope Francis said.

The pope said that through compunction “the natural tendency to be indulgent with ourselves and inflexible with others is overturned and, by God’s grace, we become strict with ourselves and merciful toward others.”

“Weeping for ourselves … means seriously repenting for saddening God by our sins … It means looking within and repenting of our ingratitude and inconstancy, and acknowledging with sorrow our duplicity, dishonesty, and hypocrisy — clerical hypocrisy, dear brothers, that hypocrisy which we slip into so much — beware of clerical hypocrisy,” Francis said.

“How greatly we need to be set free from harshness and recrimination, selfishness and ambition, rigidity and frustration, in order to entrust ourselves completely to God and to find in him the calm that shields us from the storms raging all around us,” he added.

“Let us pray, intercede, and shed tears for others; in this way, we will allow the Lord to work his miracles. And let us not fear, for he will surely surprise us.”

During the Vatican’s chrism Mass, the pope, as the bishop of Rome, blessed the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumens, and the chrism oil, which will be used in the diocese during the coming year. Cardinal Angelo De Donatis served as the celebrant at the altar.

The oils were processed up the main altar of St. Peter’s in large silver urns as the hymns of the Sistine Chapel Choir filled the basilica.

Pope Francis prayed over the oil of the sick: “O God, Father of all consolation, who through your Son have willed to heal the infirmities of the sick, listen favorably to this prayer of faith: Send down from heaven, we pray, your Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, upon the rich substance of this oil, which you were pleased to bring forth from vigorous green trees to restore our bodies, so that by your holy blessing this oil may be for anyone who is anointed with it a safeguard for body, mind, and spirit, to take away every pain, every infirmity, and every sickness.”

The blessed oil will be used for the anointing of the sick in Rome throughout the year.

Pope Francis thanked the priests gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica for all they do to bring “the miracle of God’s mercy” to the world today.  

“Dear priests, thank you for your open and docile hearts; thank you for your labors and thank you for your tears; thank you because you bring the miracle of mercy … you bring God to the brothers and sisters of our time,” he said. “Dear priests, may the Lord console you, confirm you, and reward you.”

Watch the full Mass here:

Students and teachers from Jerusalem Christian schools walk the Way of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. The yearly event was organized by the Custody of the Holy Land on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, on the occasion of Lent. / Credit: Marinella Bandini

Rome Newsroom, Mar 27, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday issued a letter to the Christians of the Holy Land in preparation for Good Friday, expressing his solidarity with a community that continues to suffer amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

“Dear brothers and sisters, allow me to tell you once more that you are not alone. We will never leave you alone but will demonstrate our solidarity with you by prayer and practical charity,” the pope wrote in his Holy Wednesday letter.

“In these bleak times, when it seems that the dark clouds of Good Friday hover over your land, and all too many parts of our world are scarred by the pointless folly of war — which is always and for everyone a bitter defeat — you are lamps shining in the night, seeds of goodness in a land rent asunder by conflict,” the pope continued. 

Emphasizing his “paternal affection,” the pope joined the beleaguered population in sharing in their “sufferings” and “struggles.” 

“I embrace those most affected by the senseless tragedy of war: the children robbed of their future, those who grieve and are in pain, and all who find themselves prey to anguish and dismay,” the pope continued. 

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, called the situation “objectively intolerable” in an interview last week with Italian television station TV2000. 

Imploring upon the world’s leaders to find an end to the carnage, Pizzaballa noted that there have always been many economic hardships, “but there has never been hunger before.” According to the Gazan Health Ministry, 27 children have died from malnutrition and dehydration. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to press forward with the offensive to the densely populated city of Rafah in Southern Gaza, where more than 1.5 million people are sheltering. The United Nations Security Council voted on Monday for a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire. 

In his letter the pope reflected on his own visit to the region in May 2014, marking the 50th anniversary of the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I in Jerusalem, and again stressed the imperative for peace.  

Quoting from Paul VI’s 1964 apostolic exhortation Nobis in Animo, Francis wrote: “The continuing tensions in the Middle East, and the lack of concrete progress toward peace, represent a constant and dire threat not only to the peace and security of those peoples — and indeed of the entire world — but also to values supremely dear, for different reasons, to much of mankind.” 

The pope also highlighted the particular importance of Easter, “the heart of our faith,” for Holy Land Christians, given its geographic centrality in the story of revelation and the place where Christ’s passion and death occurred.  

“The history of salvation, and indeed its geography, would not exist apart from the land in which you have dwelt for centuries,” the pope wrote. “There you want to remain, and there it is good that you should remain. Thank you for your testimony of faith, thank you for the charity that exists among you, thank you for your ability to hope against all hope.” 

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gather in Paul VI Audience Hall for his Wednesday general audience on March 27, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Mar 27, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday used the example of two men — one Palestinian, one Israeli, both of whom lost their daughters in violent conflicts — to reflect on Christ’s suffering and his patience as the Church prepares for Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Calling attention to the two men present at his general audience in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father told the assembly: “Both lost their daughters in this war and both are friends. They don’t look at the enmity of war, but they look at the friendship of two men who love each other and who went through the same crucifixion.”

“Let us think of this very beautiful testimony of these two people who suffered with their daughters from the war in the Holy Land. Dear brothers, thank you for your testimony.” 

Before the opening of the general audience, Pope Francis met briefly with the two fathers, exchanging embraces and several gifts. 

Rami Elhanan lost his 14-year-old daughter, Smadar, in 1997 when she was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber while out shopping with friends in the center of Jerusalem.

Bassam Aramin lost his 10-year-old daughter Abir in 2007. She was shot dead outside her school by a young Israeli soldier. 

Both men have dedicated themselves to working toward peace in the war-torn region through the Parents Circle Families Forum, an association of Israeli and Palestinian families who recount their process of bereavement and spearhead projects aimed at greater dialogue and peace initiatives. 

“Brothers and sisters, let us pray for peace,” the pope said. “May there be peace in the Holy Land. May the Lord give peace to all, as a gift of his Easter”

The general audience, which was scheduled to take place in St. Peter’s Square, was moved to the Paul VI Audience Hall as central Italy headed into its second day of heavy rain. 

“Today the audience was scheduled in the square, but due to the rain it was moved inside. It’s true that you will be a little crowded, but at least we won’t be wet! Thank you for your patience,” the pope said.

Reflecting on the passion reading from Palm Sunday, the pope opened his remarks by noting that the suffering of Christ showcases his patience and love. 

“It is precisely in the Passion that Christ’s patience emerges, as with meekness and mildness he accepts being arrested, beaten, and condemned unjustly,” the pope said. “He does not recriminate before Pilate. He bears being insulted, spat upon, and flagellated by the soldiers. He carries the weight of the cross. He forgives those who nail him to the wood; and on the cross, he does not respond to provocations but rather offers mercy.”

“Patience,” the pope continued, “is not only a need but a calling: If Christ is patient, the Christian is called to be patient.” 

Responding to the question of how to grow in patience, Pope Francis implored the faithful to “broaden one’s outlook” and “to contemplate the Crucified One” as a way to cultivate greater patience with others, especially against the backdrop of Holy Week. 

“It starts by asking to look at them with compassion, with God’s gaze, knowing how to distinguish their faces from their faults.”

The pope ended by challenging the faithful to “go against the tide” of instant gratification and to instead cultivate this virtue in order to challenge “haste” and “impatience,” which “are the enemies of spiritual life.” 

“God is love, and those who love do not tire, they are not irascible, they do not give ultimatums but know how to wait.”

The Stations of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum, April 15, 2022. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Mar 26, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis for the first time in his 11-year pontificate will pen his own spiritual meditations for Friday’s Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) against the dramatic backdrop of Rome’s historic Colosseum.

The reflection will be based on the theme “In Prayer with Jesus on the Way of the Cross.” The pope will write a unique treatment for each station, “centered on what Jesus experiences in that moment,” the Holy See Press Office announced.

Vatican News observed that the pope’s decision to write his own mediations this year dovetails with the spiritual dimension of the Year of Prayer, a period of reflection the pope has called in anticipation of the 2025 Jubilee Year.

In 1985 Pope John Paul II started the tradition of delegating the writing of the Good Friday Way of the Cross reflections to different individuals and groups. But he interrupted this custom when he authored his own reflections for the “Great Jubilee,” or Holy Year of 2000. Pope Benedict XVI continued with the tradition throughout his pontificate. 

The setting for the papal Way of the Cross is rich with history and holds a special meaning for Rome’s Christians. 

The Colosseum, which also bears the name of the Flavian Amphitheater, was constructed during the first century A.D. during the reign of the Flavian dynasty. The massive elliptical structure sits in the heart of ancient Rome and was known as a site for gladiatorial battles, military reenactments, and dramatic productions. 

Tradition holds that early Christians were martyred in large numbers at the Colosseum. Though the archaeological evidence of the Colosseum as a site for martyrdom is scarce, the world’s largest ancient amphitheater still holds a central place in the Christian imagination, serving as a symbol of the persecution of the early Church. 

In 1750 Pope Benedict XIV erected a large cross and the 14 stations of the cross there; in 1756 he dedicated the edifice to the memory of the passion of Christ and the martyrs. The tradition lasted for a century until the unification of Italy in 1861, when the Church lost its sovereign temporal authority over the city of Rome. 

Pope John XXIII presided over the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum once in 1959. But it was not until 1964 with Pope Paul VI that the celebration became a permanent fixture of the pope’s Holy Week itinerary. 

In past years Pope Francis has entrusted the meditations to different groups and individuals reflecting a wide range of themes such as war and peace, migration, and the experience of the incarcerated.

Last year’s Way of the Cross was centered on the theme “Voices of Peace in a World at War,” incorporating the testimonies of victims of violence whom Pope Francis encountered during his international apostolic journeys over the past 10 years.

The full text of the meditations will be made available on Friday morning ahead of the service, which will begin at 9:15 p.m. Rome time.

St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. / Shutterstock|maziarz

Vatican City, Mar 25, 2024 / 11:45 am (CNA).

Pope Francis will travel by motorboat along Venice’s canals and offer Mass in St. Mark’s Square during his visit to the “floating city,” the Vatican announced Monday.

The Holy See Press Office has released the schedule for the pope’s upcoming day trip to Venice — the pope’s only scheduled trip so far in 2024.

Pope Francis will preside over a public Mass in St. Mark’s Square at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 28, as he visits the Vatican pavilion at the Venice Biennale art exhibition. 

The 87-year-old pope will travel by helicopter from Vatican City to Venice in under two hours and will land on Giudecca Island, home to Venice’s women’s prison.

The pope’s first meeting will be with inmates in the prison, where he will also tour the Vatican art exhibit being displayed there and meet with the featured artists. 

Pope Francis will then travel by motorboat from Giudecca Island to Venice’s Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, a place of pilgrimage in the city built in thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary for saving Venice from the terrible plague of 1630. 

The pope will give a speech to young people from dioceses throughout Italy’s northern Veneto region in the piazza in front of the basilica before crossing a bridge over the Grand Canal to arrive at St. Mark’s Square.

After the Mass, Pope Francis will privately venerate the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist inside the basilica. He will leave St. Mark’s Square via motorboat to arrive at a heliport on Sant’Elena Island, where he will depart by helicopter at 1 p.m. after having spent only five hours in Venice.

Pope Francis will be the first pope to visit the prestigious Venice Biennale art exhibition, which will be open to the public from April 20 to Nov. 24.

The Vatican has participated in the Art Biennale since 2013. The first Holy See Pavilion was commissioned by Pope Benedict XVI, who also visited Venice in 2011 and traveled across the Grand Canal in the same gondola as Pope John Paul II did in 1985.

Pope Francis meets with Nigerians living in Rome on March 25, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Mar 25, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).

Pope Francis gave thanks on Monday for the many young Nigerians who have answered God’s call to the priesthood or religious life.

In a meeting with Nigerians living in Rome on March 25, the pope said he was grateful for all that Nigerian Catholics have done to bear witness to the Gospel, especially as many parts of the country are experiencing insecurity and Christian persecution.

“I also join you in thanking Almighty God for the many young Nigerians who have heard the Lord’s call to the priesthood and consecrated life and responded with generosity, humility, and perseverance,” Pope Francis said.

“There are some here among you, young priests and young nuns,” he remarked. “May you always be missionary disciples, grateful that the Lord has chosen you to follow him and has sent you to zealously proclaim our faith and contribute to the construction of a more just and humane world.”

Nigeria has had a vocations boom in the past 50 years. In 2019, more than 400 diocesan priests were ordained in the West African country, which also sends priests to serve dioceses facing priest shortages in the United States and Europe.

Last year, Nigeria was recognized as having the highest Mass attendance in the world. A study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University found that 94% of Nigeria’s 30 million Catholics say they attend Mass at least weekly or more, while only 17% of American Catholics attend Mass weekly.

Nigeria has also been recognized as one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian. According to Open Doors International 4,998 Christians were killed in Nigeria in 2023 amid attacks by Islamic militants, kidnappings by armed bandits, and overall insecurity.

Catholic bishops in Nigeria’s Ibadan ecclesiastical province issued a statement last month lamenting the country’s recurrent and pervasive security challenges. 

“Our dear country Nigeria is fast becoming a hostile killing field,” the bishops said.

Kidnappings from seminaries, monasteries, and other places of religious formation have been on the rise in Nigeria. While some victims of the kidnappings have been killed, seminarians who survived the ordeal have shared in interviews with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, how they have come back stronger — and ready to die for their faith.

Pope Francis addressed Nigeria’s security challenges during the audience and assured the Nigerian community of his prayers for security and unity in their country.

“Unfortunately, many regions of the world are experiencing conflict and suffering, and Nigeria is also experiencing difficult times,” the pope said.

“In assuring you of my prayers for the security, unity, and spiritual and economic progress of your nation, I invite everyone to encourage dialogue and listen to each other with an open heart, without excluding anyone on a political, social, and religious level,” Francis added.

The pope also encouraged Nigerians to be “heralds of the great mercy of the Lord, working for reconciliation between all your brothers and sisters, contributing to alleviating the burden of the poor and the most needy.”

“In this way all Nigerians will be able to continue to walk together in fraternal solidarity and harmony,” he said.

“I entrust your community to the loving protection of the Virgin Mary, queen and patroness of Nigeria, and I heartily bless you. And please don’t forget to pray for me,” Pope Francis said.