(Vatican City) “War is everywhere,” said Pope Francis on Friday, who will preside over the evening “Stations of the Cross” at the Colosseum in Rome for the first time since 2019, marked by a message of peace in the face of to the war in Ukraine.
Posted at 10:55 a.m.
“Right now, in Europe, this war affects us a lot. But let’s look a little further. The world is at war, the world is at war! Syria, Yemen, then think of the expelled Rohingya, without a homeland. There is war everywhere,” the pope said in an interview with Italian television channel Rai 1.
“I understand governments who buy weapons. I do not justify them, but I understand them. Because we have to defend ourselves”, also affirmed the sovereign pontiff, evoking the presence of a “cainist war plan”. “We live with this demonic plan, [qui dit] to kill each other out of a desire for power, a desire for security, a desire for so many things,” he denounced.
Firm opponent of the use of arms, Jorge Bergoglio has already referred to the biblical character, eldest son of Adam and Eve, having killed his younger brother, in particular in his multiple denunciations of the war in Ukraine.
In the afternoon, the 85-year-old Pope will preside at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Mass of the Passion of Christ, the high point of Good Friday, before heading to the Colosseum, where it will begin at 9:15 p.m. 15 GMT) the traditional Way of the Cross, for the first time since 2019.
A highlight of Holy Week in the Christian tradition, the route of the “Via Crucis” brings to life the Calvary of Jesus, from his death sentence to his crucifixion, his death and his burial.
During this ceremony, two women, Russian and Ukrainian, were invited to carry the cross together on one of the 14 stations, an initiative which raised the reservations of the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See and religious authorities in this country.
On Thursday, the Holy Father traveled to Civitavecchia prison, north of Rome, where he washed the feet of 12 inmates.
Saturday evening, he will preside over the Easter Vigil at Saint Peter’s Basilica, then Easter Mass on Sunday morning in the square of the same name, after which he will perform the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing.