This year, Pope Benedict XVI will lead the traditional Via Crucis on Good Friday at the Colosseum in Rome and the event will be broadcast worldwide.
This tradition goes back to the XVIII century during Pope Benedict XIV’s pontiff and was revived in 1964 by Pope Paul VI. With Pope John Paul II the annual public Good Friday prayer of the Stations of the Cross at the Roman Colosseum became also a worldwide television event.
Every year a different person is invited to write the meditation texts for the Stations. This year, the meditation texts will be written by an Italian married couple, Danilo and Annamaria Zanzucchi, founders of the Focolare Movement’s New Families initiative. They are the first married couple to be asked to compose the texts.
It is a very interesting event even for those who are not catholic and if you happen to be in rome this week do not miss the mystical atmosphere around the Colosseum next friday evening.
You can find the booklet to follow the Via Crucis 2012 here.
The ceremony will be broadcast on-line on the Vatican's official website and on the Radio Vaticana website and starts at 9.15pm CET.
