Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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INTRODUCTION
Each year the Christian community of Rome, together with great numbers of pilgrims from around
the world, gathers with the Successor of Peter at the Colosseum on the evening of Good Friday, the
liturgical memorial of the Lord's Passion, for the traditional devotion of the Stations of the Cross.
Millions of the faithful take part through television in this moment of contemplation and prayer. The
City and the World are in a sense united around the mystery of the passion and death of the Lord,
the re-enactment of which is marked by readings from the Bible, prayers, meditations and songs.
The way of the cross winds from inside the Colosseum to the slopes of the Palatine.
The 14 stations, as on other occasions in recent years, follow a strictly biblical outline, based on
texts drawn mainly from the Gospel of St Mark.
Each year the Holy Father invites people of various nationalities and different Churches or Ecclesial
Communities to compose the meditations of the Way of the Cross. This year's meditations are novel
in that they have been composed by a variety of authors: 14 journalists and communicators, lay men
and women from different countries, all of whom are accredited to the Press Office of the Holy See
and represent well-known press and television networks. While they are in touch with everyday
news events, they are also sensitive to the world of the spirit; trained in the clear and concise
language of the media, they are used to reporting the news of the day. They have found ways to link
the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth to contemporary historical events: the people, situations and places
of our world are themselves a daily Via Crucis where Christ continues to live and to suffer in vast
numbers of our brothers and sisters - in the powerless and the poor, in the outcast and the sick, in
prisoners and victims of persecution, in the homeless and in those without a country. In many of the
stations, the meditation links the history of Jesus of Nazareth with the story of those men and
women of our own time who are victims of violence, war, persecution and terrorism.
Women journalists have been assigned the meditations on those stations in which women - Mary,
the Mother of Jesus, the women disciples who followed the Master to Calvary, the daughters of
Jerusalem - are the principal actors and witnesses of various episodes of the Lord's Passion.
In our own day too - and the authors of the 2002 Way of the Cross have stated it well - the face of
God shines forth in the face of Christ. In Christ's Passion we read the sufferings of mankind. In the
pain-filled faces of the men and women of our time we have a glimpse of the face of Christ,
accused, reviled, crucified. Yet his Easter victory, his triumph over evil and death, offers hope to all
humanity, the promise and pledge of new life.
OPENING PRAYER
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
R.Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters: the shadows of evening have fallen, the evening of Good Friday, 2002.
Once more the Church of Rome prepares to relive, listening to the Word, the final passage of the
life of Christ: from the Garden of Olives to the tomb hewn in the Garden.
***
Via Crucis
The path of suffering, which Christ treads in obedience to the saving plan of the Father. His path
and ours: "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow
me" (Mt 16,24).
Via Crucis
The event which reveals the love of the Trinity: of the Father, who "so loved the world that he gave
his only Son" (Jn 3,16); of the Son, who so loved his friends that he laid down his life for them (cf.
Jn 15,13); of the Spirit of peace, mercy and consolation.
Via Crucis
The school of life according to the Gospel, where the disciple, gazing upon the Crucified One,
learns how to love God above all things and spend his life for his brothers and sisters; $\how
forgiveness can triumph over injury and evil be requited with good; how the heart can open to a
friend and the pain of the afflicted find relief.
Via Crucis
An appeal for reconciliation and peace, so that in Asia, Africa and the Middle East today's bitter
conflicts may cease, bloodshed may come to an end, so that, by the power of the Spirit, all hardness
of heart may be shattered and "enemies begin to speak to one another, those who were estranged
join hands in friendship, and nations seek the ways of peace together" (Roman Liturgy).
***
Peace to those nearby and those far away! Peace to you, Jerusalem, City beloved of the Lord! Peace
to you, Rome, City of many martyrs, wellspring of Christian civilization!
Let us pray.
Holy and merciful Father, grant that we may walk with faith and love along the way of the Cross.
As we share in Christ's passion, may we come at last with him to the glory of your Kingdom.
R.Amen.
FIRST STATION
And they went to a place which was called Gethsemane; and he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.
And he said to them: "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch". And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that,
if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said: "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will,
but what you will".
MEDITATION
The garden full of olive trees offers no comfort this night. It is sad to see that face pressed against
the earth, it hurts to see the anguish that weighs upon his heart. The friends he chose for company
are asleep, the same ones who promised: We shall always be with you, Jesus. Their promises are
asleep too. A little while ago, Peter was boasting: Even if everyone runs away, I shall remain. But
now he cannot even keep his eyes open. These last few steps Jesus had to walk alone. The long path
of miracles and words, the path so full of people, has led him here: to a stony patch of ground and a
solitude so immense that it terrifies. Face to the ground: nothing majestic about this scene, except
the simplicity of a man who confesses: My soul is full of sorrow. The one who calmed the waters
cannot give himself peace. The storm is the anguish that shakes him to the core, as it shakes
millions of men and women, yesterday, today and tomorrow. The struggle can last a long time, and
in this garden it ends only when the Son says to the Father: "Your will be done". A prayer that
brings profound peace.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
SECOND STATION
And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the
scribes and the elders. And when he came, he went up to him at once, and said: "Master!" And he kissed him. And they laid hands on him and seized him.
MEDITATION
On that tragic, dark night in Gethsemane, "the night when he was betrayed" (1 Cor 11,23), the Son
of God, by his words and actions, awakens in us different and even conflicting emotions: we sense
the richness of his spiritual dialogue with the disciples and we experience the joy of the meal taken
together; we contemplate the heights of pure intentions and shudder at the cowardice of betrayal.
Jesus, wise and all-seeing, obedient to the Father's plan of salvation, goes to his death for the
liberation of the human race. The disciple turned traitor is left with nothing but universal, ageless
scorn: the "curse of Judas", the dark abyss. From the death of Christ new life flowers, memory and
message of an undying hope: universal salvation.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
in our divisions, the bitter fruit of sin,
show us the way to unity,
the way that leads to the inexpressible richness
of the Gospel and of Redemption.
The time determined by the Father must come,
when we shall see the love which forgives
and unites.
You, wise Master of life,
kind and patient
in the face of betrayal by your disciple
and the insolence of rulers,
grant to us, in these days of unheard-of violence
and brutal conflict between men,
a ray of your calm and your serenity.
Let us know peace and forgiveness,
for there can be no peace without forgiveness,
nor forgiveness without compassion.
To you, Jesus,
who turn your meek face
to the friend who betrays you,
be honour and glory
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
today and in that day which will never end.
R.Amen.
All:
THIRD STATION
Now the chief priests and the whole council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. And the high priest stood up in the
midst, and asked Jesus: "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" And Jesus said: "I am". And they all condemned him as deserving death.
MEDITATION
The judicial apparatus has now been set in motion. The apparatus that condemns without proofs,
accuses without grounds, judges without appeal, and crushes the innocent. Summary justice, the
swift justice of modern dictatorships and times of war. The justice sometimes given - blasphemy of
blasphemies - in the name of the God who forgives and absolves. Jesus in the dock. Like all the
victims of caprice, presumed guilty of crimes of conscience. They resist, they refuse to bow beneath
the yoke of the system, power which crushes, destroying personhood and identity. Identity check:
"Who are you". On arrival, every prisoner receives a number. At all times he has to show his tag,
hand over his identity card. In the hour of caprice, the Church's duty and her boast is to tell him that
he is not a number, and that every man has a right to be called by name. "Are you the Christ, the
Son of the Blessed?" (Mk 14,61). The response is full of light: "I am!" (Mk 14,62). To proclaim
one's own identity and one's faith are acts sometimes punishable by death. How many people are
seeking God? How many are seeking him behind bars? How many seek him within the prison of
their life, their sufferings? How many seek him amid mockery and torture? Men and women in
prisons everywhere, hunted down, marked, scarred, lacking answers to the essential questions:
about the meaning of life and about evil, about repentance, forgiveness and salvation, about the
mystery of the Cross and of Redemption. A people of flesh and blood. A land of encounters, faces,
voices and cries. A land of the Gospel.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
Pater noster, qui es in cælis:
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo.
O quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedicta
mater Unigeniti!
FOURTH STATION
And immediately the cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him: "Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three
times". And he broke down and wept.
MEDITATION
The cock crows for a second time, and Peter's tears fall to the ground. What has happened to
Cephas, the Rock? He has denied his Redeemer, not once, not twice, but three times. Just as his
faith wavered when he tried to walk on water, once again Peter reveals his weakness. He had
brashly promised that he would rather die than deny his Master. But in the end, a young servant girl
suffices to make him ashamed of his friendship with Jesus. As soon as Jesus glances at Peter the
Apostle recognizes his grievous error. Humbled, he cries and asks God for forgiveness. The lesson
of Peter is a powerful one: that even those closest to Jesus will offend him through sin. The sound
of the cock's crow will never be the same for the Prince of the Apostles: it will remind him for ever
of his fear and frailty.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
FIFTH STATION
And Pilate said to them: "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more: "Crucify him". So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for
them Barabbas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
MEDITATION
PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
free us from hypocrisy and indifference,
from the temptation to wash our hands
in the face of injustice.
Grant us the humility we need
to recognize our mistakes.
Teach us to reject all compromise
with injustice and deceit.
Help us to be silent within
that we may hear the cry of those
who are suffering.
Enlighten those who always try
to justify the wrong that they have done.
You, O Lord, poured out your blood
as the price of our freedom:
give each of us your voice
that we may lift it up
in defence of the oppressed,
of all who suffer in silence,
so that peace, justice and forgiveness
may become a reality in the world.
You, Jesus, were condemned though innocent:
to you be pure and thankful praise,
with the Father and the Spirit
in this age and for all eternity.
R.Amen.
All:
SIXTH STATION
The soldiers clothed him in a purple cloak, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him. And they began to salute him:
"Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck his head with a reed, and spat upon him, and they knelt down in homage to him.
MEDITATION
O Christ, you are the true King, yet men mocked you and gave you a crown not to adore but to
deride you. We suffer with you because people are blind and deaf to your message of salvation.
Your Kingdom is not of this world, but we humans look for honour, power, success, wealth: a world
without suffering. Yet we inflict pain upon others, even the unborn, even animals. By your sacrifice
you taught us to break the cycle of violence. True man, you bore unspeakable pain; contemplating
your face, we find strength to bear our sorrows, in the hope of finding welcome in your Kingdom,
the true and only Kingdom.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
SEVENTH STATION
And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
MEDITATION
Jesus has taken upon himself the cross destined for each one of us. To our eyes, it seems the symbol
of paradox and contradiction. Even though he possessed the glory and the power given him by the
Father, Jesus accepted a horrific death, inglorious, even shameful. He knew that the cross was the
only way to penetrate the hidden depths of man; a violent death, the one means of entering gently
into our hearts. It is hard to bear this paradoxical cross in the globalized world of today, dominated
by economic, political and military power. The powerful of this world join forces to wreak
vengeance, to strike poor and wearied peoples. Even terrorism is justified in the name of "justice"
and "defence" of the poor.
A violent message, sent by the powerful: it breaks violently upon our hearts, turning them to stone.
For this great part of humanity that suffers, for the victims of violence and injustice, for these too
Jesus carries the cross.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
EIGHTH STATION
They compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
MEDITATION
A man from the countryside came to Jerusalem on business. A strange procession blocked his way.
In a narrow and crowded street soldiers, weeping women, a few fanatics with eyes full of hate and a
man condemned, with no more strength to bear the wood of shame upon his shoulders. The soldiers
look for someone to bear this weight for him. This is not out of any sense of pity: they must keep to
the scheduled time of execution. They choose the first person they happen upon, because he seems
fit enough. A man from the countryside came to Jerusalem on business. There he truly earned
something: five minutes in the history of salvation, a mention in the Gospel. At no cost to himself,
he learned the weight of the cross. The mystery is revealed. The cross is too heavy for God made
man. Jesus needs a hand. People need solidarity. We have been told: "Bear one another's burdens"
(Gal 6,2). Solidarity.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
NINTH STATION
And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said: "Daughters of
Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is
dry?".
MEDITATION
Cries of mourning accompany the journey of the One condemned to death. Along the road that
leads to Calvary the women weep and beat their breasts. They do not know that in exchange for
their tears they will receive a fearful prophecy of what is yet to come. Do not cry over me. Save
your lament for the days and years to come, for if they treat the Innocent One in this way, what will
they do to you and your children? Jesus knows the answer to the question that he puts to the women
of Jerusalem. Carrying his Cross, he staggers under the weight of human sin and pain, the sin and
pain of those he loved as a brother. He knows already how far into history extends the sorrowful
way that leads to the "Calvaries" of the world.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
TENTH STATION
Jesus Is Crucified
And they crucified him, and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.
MEDITATION
Jesus is crucified. His hands and feet pierced by merciless nails. Stripped of his garments, he is now
covered with the sins of the world. Out of love he allows himself to be crucified; in love human
suffering acquires saving power. Sustained by this certitude, generations of men and women, young
and old, follow the Crucified One in this radical experience of love. The Saviour's wounds bleed
still today, aggravated by the nails of injustice, of lies and hatred, of abuse, sacrilege and
indifference. On the palms of his hands pierced by the nails are written the names of those who with
him continue to be crucified.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
nailed to the wood for love for us,
give us your freedom.
Teach us to overcome the fear of suffering
with the strength that flows from your Cross.
Place us deep within this mystery of love
that transforms into moments of grace
even the humble events of every day.
Jesus, raised upon the Cross,
draw to yourself all those who seek your face;
help all who share in your sufferings
to discover the meaning
of their mysterious calling
to share your passion and the agony of the world.
You, Jesus, are the Crucified One
whose face radiates mercy;
as we remember,
to you goes our grateful adoration
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
today and for ages unending.
R.Amen.
All:
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying: "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!". But the other rebuked him, saying: "Do you
not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this
man has done nothing wrong". And he said: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". And he said to him: "Truly, I say to you, today you
will be with me in Paradise".
MEDITATION
"Today you will be with me in paradise" (Lk 23,43): this is the most consoling word that Jesus
speaks in the Gospel. Still more encouraging is the fact that he says it to a criminal. The good thief
had certainly committed murder, perhaps more than once, and knew nothing of Jesus, except what
he had heard the crowd shouting. But now he hears the words of forgiveness that the Nazarene
speaks to those who are crucifying him and he understands, as in a flash, of which Kingdom this
"prophet" has spoken. He immediately defends him from the sneers of the other criminal and
immediately pleads for salvation. A sense of solidarity and a cry for help are enough to save him.
That thief represents us all. His brief adventure teaches us that the Kingdom preached by Jesus is
not hard to reach for those who call on him.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
you promised paradise
to the criminal who spoke to you from the cross
next to yours: remember us too,
now that you are in your Kingdom.
Grant that your consoling promise
of eternal life and eternal love
may reach every woman and every man
who faces the moment of death.
To you, Jesus,
the Condemned One with the welcoming face,
to you be everlasting praise and thanksgiving,
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
today and for ages unending.
R.Amen.
All:
TWELFTH STATION
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother: "Woman, behold, your son!".
Then he said to the disciple: "Behold, your mother!". And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
MEDITATION
Mary, you are standing at the foot of the Cross; the youngest disciple is standing next to you. Amid
the noise of the soldiers and the crowd, the two of you lift your eyes, silently, to Christ. Mary, did
you raise your hands to collect the blood running down the wood, the sap of the tree of life? Did
your tears water the earth, where too many mothers lay their children to rest? From the beginning
you pondered in your heart, in silence and abandonment, in peace and trust, what you saw and
heard. Now you offer your Son to the world, and you receive the Disciple whom he loved. From
that moment, John takes you into the home of his heart and his life, and the power of Love expands
within him. He is now, in the Church, the witness to the light and through his Gospel he reveals the
Saviour's Love.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
THIRTEENTH STATION
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' which means: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' And one
ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying: "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down".
And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last.
MEDITATION
Never more than in the hour of his death, the most important hour in human history, has Jesus been
closer to us. In the final moment, just like us, Jesus is powerless, overcome by anguish. We die all
alone. The nails pierce his flesh, but even more his spirit. Could it be that the Father has abandoned
him? He is in pain for the sorrow of his Mother, chosen to give life to a Son that she has to watch as
he dies. Still, in love and in obedience, Jesus accepts the Father's designs. He knows that without
the gift of his life our death would be without hope; the darkness of despair would not become light;
suffering would not be changed into consolation, into hope of eternity.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
Joseph of Arimathea bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb
which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
MEDITATION
After the terrible thunder at the moment of death, the great silence. His night-time disciples, who
out of fear followed him in secret, are no longer afraid. In the light of day they ask Pilate for the
body of Jesus for the burial. The Virgin of the great silence whose womb bore the blessed Fruit - the
One that the universe could not contain - receives once more in her lap the body of Jesus taken
down from the Cross: in adoration she contemplates him, in her immense sorrow she venerates
him. The King sleeps, but his Bride watches: it is the day of God's rest. Together with the King,
creation too sleeps in anticipation of its reawakening. The Son of God descends to the dead in order
to rescue those detained by death. His light overthrows the darkness of Hades. The earth shakes and
the tombs open. Jesus comes to free the just and restore them to the light of the resurrection. He has
been swallowed up by the darkness of death, but only to be brought back to the fulness of light and
life: as the whale keeps Jonah in its belly, only to give him back after three days, so the earth will
open its jaws to release the radiant body of the One who lives.
PRAYER
R.Amen.
All:
At the conclusion of his Address His Holiness imparts his Apostolic Blessing.
R. Amen.