• Vatican Francis washes the feet of several young prisoners

Pope Francis will not go to the Colosseum in Rome today to witness the traditional Way of the Cross on Good Friday and will instead follow it from his residence in the Vatican because of the "intense cold," the Holy See said.

"Due to the intense cold of these days, Pope Francis will follow the Via Crucis this afternoon from Casa Santa Marta, joining the prayers of those who will meet with the Diocese of Rome at the Colosseum," the Vatican press office reported hours before the ritual begins.

On Thursday, the Pope went to a juvenile prison on the outskirts of Rome, where he participated in a Mass and also got up from his wheelchair to wash the feet of twelve prisoners as a souvenir of the Last Supper, a gesture he made days after receiving hospital discharge last Saturday.

Francis, who left the Gemelli hospital after being admitted for three days with bronchitis, appeared in good shape and presided over the Mass on one side of the altar as established due to his knee problems that prevent him from standing for a long time.

He did the same on the morning of the same day during the Chrism Mass, which commemorates the institution of the sacrament of priestly orders by Jesus Christ during the Last Supper and is dedicated to the renewal by priests of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

There, he delivered a homily in which he asked priests to avoid divisions, which then "encourage parties and ropes" in the Church.

For its part, the Via Crucis is an annual tour that every Good Friday hundreds of faithful make in the Colosseum in Rome, through fourteen meditations that narrate the ascent to Calvary of Jesus, his crucifixion and his placement in the tomb.

Last year, part of the tour was dedicated to calling for peace after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, although the presence on the Way of the Cross last year of a Ukrainian and Russian woman carrying the cross together at one of the stations provoked complaints from the Ukrainian embassy to the Vatican.

On Holy Saturday, the Pope will preside over the Easter Vigil and on Sunday in St. Peter's Square he will officiate the Resurrection Mass and impart the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing on the central balcony of the facade of the Vatican basilica, according to the program.

  • Pope Francis I

According to The Trust Project criteria

Learn more