A prayer lying on the ground for a few minutes. Pope Francis begins the celebrations of the Passion under the steps of the presbytery in front of the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter, a gesture that precedes the Via Crucis by a few hours, also this year in the square of the Basilica due to Covid. The texts of the meditations and prayers proposed this year for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday (broadcast as always worldwide) are entrusted to the Agesci Scout Group ‘Foligno I’ (Umbria) and to the Roman Parish of Santi Martiri di Uganda.
The visit to the vaccination “center” for the homeless
But if it was known that there would be no celebrations at the Colosseum again this year, there is no shortage of ‘surprises’ on the part of Pope Francis. On the morning of Good Friday, Bergoglio was the protagonist of another unexpected exit from Casa Santa Marta. Linked to Covid. Francis visited the atrium of the Paul VI Hall, while the vaccinations of some homeless people, poor or in any case in difficulty, were welcomed and accompanied by various Roman associations. The Pope greeted the doctors and nurses, followed the procedure for preparing the vaccine doses and spoke to the people awaiting vaccination. To date, in the Vatican, about 800 of the approximately 1,200 needy and marginalized people who are given the anti-Covid 19 serum this week have been vaccinated with the first dose on the initiative of the Apostolic Charity.
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Preacher: “Politics is the greatest cause of division among Catholics”
But a strong message also arrives on this day of prayer, from the preacher of the Papal Household, Cardinal Father Raniero Cantalamessa, in the homily of the celebration of the Passion of the Lord, presided over by Pope Francis at the Altar of the Chair of the Vatican Basilica: “What is the most common cause of divisions among Catholics? It is not dogma, it is not the sacraments and ministries: all things that by the singular grace of God we keep whole and unanimous. It is the political option, when it takes precedence over the religious and ecclesial one and espouses an ideology, completely forgetting the value and duty of obedience in the Church ”.