Category: Diocese of Scranton News

SCRANTON – Faithful of the Diocese of Scranton gathered at the Cathedral of Saint Peter on Friday, April 3, 2026, to commemorate Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord, one of the most solemn liturgies of the Church year.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant, with Father Jeffrey Tudgay, Cathedral Pastor, delivering the homily.

The liturgy began in silence and included the proclamation of the Passion of Jesus Christ according to Saint John, along with the Solemn intercessions for the needs of the Church and the world.

The congregation also participated in the Veneration of the Holy Cross and received Holy Communion.

In his homily, Father Tudgay reflected on the relationship between love and freedom, emphasizing that “love has consequences” and must be freely chosen.

He noted that the Passion reveals “perfect love” and “perfect freedom” in the person of Christ, who endured betrayal, suffering, and death, yet responded with mercy and forgiveness.

“Every nuance of human behavior that can alienate us from one another is experienced by Jesus … and all of it is taken to the cross and all of it is forgiven,” Father Tudgay said.

He added that Christ’s final words, “It is finished,” changed the course of human history because they “illustrate the perfect use of freedom and the perfect choice that perfect love demands.”

Concluding his reflection, Father Tudgay invited the faithful to consider their own response to Christ’s sacrifice.

“Today, we realize that our relationship with Jesus Christ and His love for us, which redeems us and frees us from sin and death, has profound consequences for each one of us. It demands choices, it changes everything, and so, in freedom, how do we respond?” he ended his homily by asking.

SCRANTON – The Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper was celebrated April 2, 2026, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton, marking the beginning of the Sacred Triduum.

The liturgy recalled the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the priesthood, and Christ’s call to service, as proclaimed in the Gospel of Saint John: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

During the Mass, the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, washed the feet of 12 individuals, reflecting Jesus’ humble service to his disciples. The celebration also included the Liturgy of the Word, the Eucharistic Prayer and Communion, drawing the faithful into the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice and love.

In his homily, Father Gerald W. Shantillo, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, invited the faithful to reflect on the depth of Holy Week, acknowledging that “Holy Week can be overwhelming, as we drink in the most intense moments of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.”

He encouraged prayers for those suffering in today’s world, especially in areas affected by war, adding, “Jesus, King of Peace, give us peace – especially in the Holy Land.”

Father Shantillo reflected on Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, noting “there is much to agonize over in our lives – however, agony can be a blessing if we let it lead us to God and not to ourselves.”

He emphasized that, even before entering into his suffering, Jesus provided for his followers through the gift of the Eucharist and the example of service in the washing of feet.

“Remember when we kneel that we are in the very same posture that Jesus was in the garden his very night. Can we hand over to God what burdens us and trust in his providence?” Father Shantillo asked. “God doesn’t call us to solve all the problems of the immense world. He calls us to unite ourselves to him through the Eucharist and to serve our neighbors.”

The Mass concluded with the solemn procession and transfer of the Most Blessed Sacrament to the Altar of Repose, inviting the faithful to prayer and reflection in the presence of the Lord.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV welcomed the newly announced ceasefire in the Middle East as “a sign of genuine hope” after what he described as “hours of extreme tension,” while urging a return to negotiations and calling the faithful to prayer.

“Only by returning to negotiations can the war be brought to an end,” he said in remarks in Italian following his April 8 general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

His comments came just hours after a two-week ceasefire was reached between Iran and the United States, narrowly averting further escalation. The agreement followed a stark warning from U.S. President Donald Trump late April 7, when he threatened to destroy Iran’s critical infrastructure, saying “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Tehran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas tankers. The ceasefire was announced roughly two hours before the White House’s deadline.

The pope’s appeal for dialogue echoed remarks he made the previous evening at Castel Gandolfo, where he urged leaders to return to the negotiating table even before the ceasefire was announced.

“Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable,” he told journalists April 7. “There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more, it is a moral question concerning the good of the people as a whole.”

Expanding on the broader implications of the conflict, he warned of a global economic crisis marked by “great instability,” which he said risks fueling further hatred, and he called on ordinary citizens to contact their political leaders to advocate for peace.

The pope also invited the faithful to join him in a prayer vigil for peace on April 11 in his general audience address. As flowers lined the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica during the Easter season, he used his main talk to reflect on holiness, emphasizing that it is a calling shared by all believers.

“Every baptized person is called to be holy; to live in God’s grace, to practice virtue and to become like Christ,” he said in his address to English speakers.

Continuing his series on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, he described charity as the foundation of holiness, “the fullness of love towards God and towards one’s neighbor,” and said its highest expression is martyrdom, calling it the “supreme witness of faith and charity.” He added that the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, sustain believers in this call.

He continued his analysis of the Dogmatic Constitution “Lumen Gentium,” specifically, the important role of consecrated life. “Indeed, signs of the Kingdom of God, already present in the mystery of the Church, are those evangelical counsels that shape every experience of consecrated life: poverty, chastity and obedience.

Poverty demonstrates “complete trust” in God — free of self-interest, obedience follows Christ’s “self-giving” offered to God, and chastity is the “gift of a heart that is whole and pure in love, at the service of God and Church.” The pope called these virtues a form of “radical discipleship.”

“These three virtues are not rules that shackle freedom, but liberating gifts of the Holy Spirit, through which some of the faithful are wholly consecrated to God,” he said.

Closing his main address, the pope said that Christ’s sacrifice makes holiness possible even in suffering.

“By contemplating this event, we know that there is no human experience that God does not redeem,” he said. “Even suffering, lived in union with the passion of the Lord, becomes a path of holiness.”

(OSV News) – As the astronauts of NASA’s first crewed lunar flyby in half a century reached their closest approach to the moon, the team’s pilot reminded the Earth of Jesus Christ’s command to love both God and neighbor.

“As we get close to the nearest point to the moon and farthest point from Earth, as we continue to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos, I would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries there on Earth, and that’s love,” said astronaut Victor Glover, pilot of the Artemis II mission, speaking to ground control April 6 from aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft Integrity.

“Christ said, in response to what was the greatest command, that it was to love God with all you are,” said Glover. “And he also, being a great teacher, said the second is equal to it. And that is to love your neighbor as yourself.”

Glover — a Christian who has spoken publicly about his faith, citing Psalm 30 during his previous mission to the International Space Station — shared that message minutes before the Integrity faced an anticipated 40-minute communication lapse with ground control, as the spacecraft passed behind the moon, with radio and laser signals consequently blocked.

The craft launched April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a 10-day journey that took the crew around the moon, spanning 695,081 miles from launch to splashdown off the coast of San Diego.

Artemis II traveled a record-breaking maximum distance of 252,760 miles from the Earth, or more than 4,100 miles further than the 1970 Apollo 13 mission.

Joining Glover in space are commander Reid Wiseman and two mission specialists — Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who is the first from that nation to undertake a lunar mission.

Artemis II’s priorities focus on preparing for deep space exploration by humans and laying the groundwork for what NASA calls “a sustained presence on the Moon.”

With the flight taking place amid widespread geopolitical conflicts and tensions — from Ukraine to a widening war in the Middle East — Glover’s most recent words echoed earlier comments on how the lunar mission is also reaffirming human dignity, as well as the need for both unity and gratitude amid entrenched strife.

Glover, speaking from the spacecraft earlier on April 5 to CBS News, said that “as we go into Easter Sunday, thinking about all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing, and that we’ve got to get through this together.”

“When I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us who were created — you have this amazing place, this spaceship,” he said. “You guys are talking to us because we’re in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe.”

He added, “Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special, but we’re the same distance from you. And I’m trying to tell you — just trust me — you are special.”

Glover — the first Black astronaut to travel around the moon — pointed to “all of this emptiness” and “whole bunch of nothing” that “we call the universe,” describing Earth as “this oasis, this beautiful place” where “we get to exist together.”

Speaking to BBC News ahead of the mission, Glover said, “When we’re behind the moon, out of contact with everybody, let’s take that as an opportunity. Let’s pray, hope, send your good thoughts and feelings that we get back in contact with the crew.”

Moments before the April 6 period of loss of signal — which ended as scheduled, with the crew safely emerging on a homeward bound trajectory — Glover said, “As we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still able to feel your true love from Earth. And to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you from the moon.”

“Houston copies,” replied ground control. “We’ll see you on the other side.”

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) – Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter, Pope Leo XIV delivered a passionate appeal for peace, declaring that the power of the risen Christ is “entirely nonviolent” and calling on world leaders to lay down their weapons and choose dialogue over domination.

The address came moments after the pope offered Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square with more than 50,000 people present and preceded his solemn blessing, “urbi et orbi,” meaning “to the city and to the world,” in which the pope offers an indulgence to Catholics around the world who receive the blessing with the proper dispositions.

“In the light of Easter, let us allow ourselves to be amazed by Christ! Let us allow our hearts to be transformed by his immense love for us! Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!” Pope Leo said on April 5.

The pope repeated the word peace 13 times in his address, underlining that the peace the risen Christ offers “is not merely the silence of weapons, but the peace that touches and transforms the heart of each one of us.”

“Let us allow ourselves to be transformed by the peace of Christ! Let us make heard the cry for peace that springs from our hearts!”

In a surprise announcement, Pope Leo revealed he will host a prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, April 11.

At the heart of his message was a meditation on the nature of Christ’s power in the resurrection, which he contrasted with the violence that marks the modern world.
“The power with which Christ rose is entirely nonviolent,” Pope Leo said.

That strength, the pope added, “is God himself, for he is Love who creates and generates, Love who is faithful to the end and Love who forgives and redeems.”

“On this day of celebration, let us abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars and marked by a hatred and indifference that make us feel powerless in the face of evil. To the Lord we entrust all hearts that suffer and await the true peace that only he can give,” he said.

The pope warned against the “globalization of indifference,” a phrase he credited to his predecessor, Pope Francis, who gave his final “urbi et orbi” blessing from the same loggia on Easter Sunday one year ago the day before he died. Pope Leo invoked the words from Pope Francis’ Easter blessing last year, in which the late pope lamented “what a great thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day in the many conflicts raging in different parts of the world.”

“We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent,” Pope Leo said. “Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people. Indifferent to the repercussions of hatred and division that conflicts sow.”

“We cannot continue to be indifferent! And we cannot resign ourselves to evil!” he added.

Quoting a sermon by St. Augustine, Pope Leo said, “If you fear death, love the resurrection!”

Easter, the pope said, “is the victory of life over death, of light over darkness, of love over hatred.”

“It is a victory that came at a very high price,” he added. “Christ, the Son of the living God (cf. Mt 16:16), had to die — and die on a cross — after suffering an unjust condemnation, being mocked and tortured, and shedding all his blood. As the true immolated Lamb, he took upon himself the sin of the world (cf. Jn 1:29; 1 Pet 1:18–19) and thus freed us all — and with us, all creation — from the dominion of evil.”

“Evil is not the last word, because it has been defeated by the Risen One,” he said.

After giving the “urbi et orbi” blessing in Latin, Pope Leo offered Easter greetings in 10 different languages, including Chinese and Arabic, with loud cheers as he spoke in English and Spanish.

“May you bring the joy of Jesus, who is risen and present in our midst, to all you meet,” he said in English. The pope then joined the joyful crowd in St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile.

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV offered Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square Sunday proclaiming that with Christ’s resurrection “death has been conquered forever” and “no longer has power over us.”

“Today all of creation is resplendent with new light, a song of praise rises from the earth, and our hearts rejoice: Christ is risen from the dead, and with him, we too rise to new life,” the pope said.

Pope Leo declared that Easter “embraces the mystery of our lives and the destiny of history, reaching us even in the depths of death, where we feel threatened and sometimes overwhelmed. It opens us up to a hope that never fails, to a light that never fades, to a fullness of joy that nothing can take away.”

Tens of thousands gathered under the bright Roman sun on April 5 in a flower-adorned St. Peter’s Square for the first Easter Mass of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate. The square was transformed for the occasion by thousands of blooms in vivid colors on the stairs leading up to the Renaissance basilica.

The Mass opened with the choir’s joyful proclamation: “O sons and daughters of the King, whom heavenly hosts in glory sing, today the grave has lost its sting. Alleluia!”

In his homily, Pope Leo declared that the resurrection of Christ has conquered the power of death, which he said “constantly threatens us” both from within, our feelings, doubts, disappointments, fears, and from outside, where war, injustice, selfishness and violence are prevalent.

From within, he said, that power manifests in sin, loneliness, doubt and exhaustion. “The weight of our sins prevents us from ‘spreading our wings’ and taking flight, or when the disappointments or loneliness we experience drain our hope,” he said.

“When we have to come to terms with our weakness, with the sufferings and the daily grind of life, we can feel as if we have ended up in a tunnel with no end in sight.”

But the pope also turned his gaze outward, describing a world marked by suffering and injustice.

“We see it present in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable,” he said. “We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys.”

Yet Easter, Pope Leo insisted, refuses to allow despair to be the final word. The feast “invites us to lift our gaze and open our hearts,” he said, and announces that “the power of death is not the final destiny of our lives. We are all directed, once and for all, on the path to fulfillment, because in Christ we also have risen.”

During the Mass, the Gospel of John was proclaimed in both Latin and Greek, and the prayers of the faithful were offered in Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Portuguese. Pope Leo offered the consecration in Latin.

The pope called on Christians to carry that message into the wider world, like St. Mary Magdalene, who ran to announce the risen Christ to the disciples.

“Brothers and sisters, Easter gives us this hope, as we remember that in the risen Christ a new creation is possible every day,” Pope Leo said.

“We need this song of hope today. It is ourselves, risen with Christ, who must bring him into the streets of the world. Let us then run like Mary Magdalene, announcing him to everyone, living out the joy of the resurrection, so that wherever the specter of death still lingers, the light of life may shine,” he said.

SCRANTON – The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, led the faithful of the Diocese of Scranton in celebrating the Easter Vigil on Saturday, April 4, 2026, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter, marking the Church’s most solemn celebration of the Resurrection.

The liturgy began at 8:00 p.m. in the Cathedral Prayer Graden, where the Easter fire was kindled and the Paschal Candle lit, symbolizing Christ as the light of the world.

From there, the faithful processed in darkness to the Cathedral and once inside, their individual candles gradually illuminated the Mother Church of the Diocese.

Rooted in Scripture and rich symbolism, the Liturgy of the Word traced salvation history through a series of readings – from the story of creation in Genesis to the crossing of the Red Sea, the promises of the prophets, and ultimately the proclamation of the Resurrection from the Gospel of Matthew. 

Preaching at the Vigil, Bishop Bambera centered his homily on the hope of the Resurrection amid a suffering world.

“Welcome on this night of the Resurrection – this night that lies at the heart of our lives as Christians,” the Bishop said. “This is the day the Lord has made.”

The Bishop noted the joy of the occasion, particularly as more than 300 catechumens and candidates across the Diocese were being baptized or received into full communion with the Church this Easter. 

“How blessed we are by their presence and commitment to journey with Christ and with us, his Church,” the Bishop said.

At the same time, he acknowledged the reality of suffering both globally and locally, pointing to ongoing wars, the struggles of immigrants, and the persistence of antisemitism, as well as the personal crosses carried by many.

“Amid such upheaval and pain,” he said, “these sacred days beckon us to turn to the only place that enables our broken world and lives to find forgiveness, healing, hope and peace: the Paschal Mystery.”

Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop Bambera emphasized that Christian hope is not the absence of suffering but the confidence to face it. 

“Hope grows from a relationship with the risen Jesus,” Bishop Bambera related, “and our belief that, out of love for us, the power of God enabled his cross and death to give way to life and resurrection.”

He further challenged the faithful to live out the message of Easter beyond the walls of the church, recalling the Gospel’s call to share the Good News.

“The resurrection of Jesus compels us to move beyond ourselves,” he said, urging believers to proclaim God’s mercy and care for those who suffer.

Following the homily, the Vigil continued with the Liturgy of Baptism, including the blessing of water, the renewal of Baptismal promises, and the reception of new members into the Church, before culminating in the celebration of the Eucharist and the singing of the closing song of “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – God’s love is stronger than any evil, capable of “driving out hatred” and “bringing down the mighty,” Pope Leo XIV said.

“Man can kill the body, but the life of the God of love is eternal life, which transcends death and which no tomb can imprison,” the pope said in his homily during the Easter Vigil April 4 in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“This, my dear friends, is also our message to the world today,” to be shared “through the words of faith and the works of charity,” he said.

Just as Mary Magdalene and the other women rushed to tell the disciples that Jesus is risen, “we too should desire to set out tonight from this basilica to bring to all the good news,” the pope said. “Having risen with him, through his power, we too can give life to a new world of peace and unity.”

The Mass began in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica with the blessing of the fire and of the Easter candle. With most of the lights in the basilica turned off, Pope Leo and the concelebrating cardinals, bishops and priests processed in darkness toward the altar, stopping first to light the pope’s candle and then those of the concelebrants and faithful.

During the liturgy, Pope Leo baptized 10 adults. Five were from the Diocese of Rome, two from Great Britain, two from Portugal and one catechumen was from South Korea, according to ANSA, the Italian news agency.

The pope also confirmed the 10 and gave them their first Communion during the Mass.

During the Liturgy of the Word and the readings detailing moments in the history of salvation, Pope Leo said in his homily, “We have seen how God responds to the hardness of sin — which divides and kills — with the power of love, which unites and restores life.”

The Gospel reading described how the women who had witnessed Jesus’ death and burial overcame their grief and fear, and went to his tomb, expecting to find it sealed with a large stone and soldiers standing guard, he said.

“This is what sin is: a heavy barrier that closes us off and separates us from God, seeking to kill his words of hope within us,” he said.

However, because of the women’s “faith and love,” he said, they became the first witnesses of the resurrection and “they saw the power of God’s love, stronger than any force of evil, capable of ‘driving out hatred’ and ‘bringing down the mighty.'”

Throughout history, even when humanity failed to live according to God’s plan, he said, “the Lord did not abandon us, but revealed his merciful face to us in an even more surprising way — through forgiveness.”

“Sisters and brothers, even today, there are tombs to be opened, and often the stones sealing them are so heavy and so closely guarded that they seem to be immovable,” Pope Leo said.

Some “stones” weigh heavily on the human heart, he said, “such as mistrust, fear, selfishness and resentment; others, stemming from these inner struggles, sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations.”

“Let us not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by them!” he said. With God’s help, many men and women have rolled away those “stones,” sometimes at the cost of their lives, “but with good fruits that we still benefit from today.”

“They are not unattainable figures, but people like us who, strengthened by the grace of the Risen One, in charity and truth, had the courage to speak” the words of God and to act “with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified,” he said.

“Let us be inspired by their example,” the pope said, “and on this holy night let us make their commitment our own, so that the Easter gifts of harmony and peace may grow and flourish everywhere and always throughout the world.”

ROME (OSV News) – Inside the ancient arena of the Roman Empire that crucified Christ, Pope Leo XIV carried the cross through the darkness of night on Good Friday at Rome’s Colosseum, leading about 30,000 in prayer for the sufferings of the modern world.

Torch flames flickered against nearly 2,000-year-old stone walls as crowds packed the streets around the Colosseum, praying alongside the pope through the traditional Via Crucis on the first Good Friday of his pontificate April 3.

The 70-year-old pope carried the cross through all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross, holding it directly in front of his face for nearly two hours as he prayed for victims of war, the defense of human dignity, the despairing and the lonely.

It was the first time a pope had carried the cross for every station in more than three decades. According to Vatican archival research communicated by Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni April 3, St. John Paul II was the last pope to do so, carrying the cross from 1980 to 1994.

The meditations for this year’s celebration were written by Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, who formerly served as custos of the Holy Land and drew on his experience walking the historical Way of the Cross through the narrow streets of Jerusalem’s Old City, describing it in both Jesus’ time and today as “a chaotic, distracting and noisy environment, surrounded by people who share our faith in him, but also by those who deride or insult him.”

In this way, he said, the Via Crucis parallels how every Christian is called to incarnate faith, hope and charity in the real world “where the believer faces ongoing challenges and must constantly strive to imitate Jesus.”

Each station included a Scripture reading, a quotation from St. Francis, a meditation by Father Patton and a short introspective litany prayer, after which the crowd prayed an Our Father in Latin and verses of the traditional “Stabat Mater” prayer.

The inclusion of quotations by St. Francis of Assisi fits with the Catholic Church’s special Jubilee Year marking the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death. St. Francis’ reflection on redemptive suffering was among those cited, “Let all of us, brothers, consider the Good Shepherd who bore the suffering of the cross to save his sheep.” Many of the quotations were drawn from St. Francis’ “Admonitions,” the spiritual writings he left for his brother friars before his death in 1226.

The meditation for the first station, “Jesus is condemned to death,” called leaders of every kind to account, with Father Patton writing that every person in authority will answer to God in the Last Judgment for how they exercise power, including “the power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge or for reconciliation; the power to use the economy to oppress people or to liberate them from misery.”

The 10th station, “Jesus is stripped of his garments,” drew a sharp connection between Christ’s humiliation and contemporary violations of human dignity. The meditations cited authoritarian regimes that force prisoners to remain half-naked in bare cells, torturers who tear away not only clothing but skin and flesh, sexual abusers who reduce victims to objects and an entertainment industry that “exploits nudity for the sake of profit.”

The meditation concluded with a call to conversion, “Remind us, Lord, that each time we fail to recognize the dignity of others, our own dignity is diminished.”

The 11th station, “Jesus is nailed to the cross,” offered a meditation on the nature of true power in the eyes of God. “You show that true power is not that of those who use force and violence to impose themselves, but that of those who are capable of taking upon themselves the evil of humanity — ours, mine — and destroying it with the power of love that is manifest in forgiveness,” it said. “You are King and you reign from the cross: you do not resort to the supposed power of armies, but to the apparent powerlessness of love.”

The litany prayers that followed each meditation gave voice to a wide range of human suffering. At the eighth station, “Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem,” the crowd prayed to “weep over the devastation of war” and “for massacres and genocides.” At the ninth station, the congregation asked to be made instruments of Christ “to lift up the most frail” and “to lift up those we judge as having ‘brought it upon themselves.'”

Throughout the evening, prayers were offered for political prisoners, for people searching for the ultimate meaning of life, for those suffering from addiction, for children whose childhoods have been stolen, for victims of trafficking, for the poor stripped of their dignity, for migrants and refugees, for the lonely, for mothers who have lost children and for those who die alone.

When asked earlier in the week about his decision to carry the cross for all 14 stations, Pope Leo told reporters in Castel Gandolfo that he saw it as a sign the world needed.

“I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader today in the world, for this voice that everyone wants to hear to say that Christ still suffers, and I carry all these sufferings too in my prayer,” the pope said.

Pope Leo extended an invitation to all people, regardless of faith. “I would like to invite all people of goodwill, all people of faith, all Christians to walk together, to walk with Christ who suffered for us to give salvation, life, and to seek how we may also be bearers of peace and not of hatred,” he added.

The Colosseum has long held a special place in the Church’s commemoration of Christ’s passion. In 1756, Pope Benedict XIV dedicated it to the memory of the passion of Christ and the early Christian martyrs, and the Stations of the Cross were regularly observed there for roughly a century. St. John XXIII later restored the tradition to the Colosseum, with St. Paul VI making it a regular fixture of the pope’s Good Friday traditions.