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	Pope Benedict XVI Holds Good Friday "Via Crucis" Procession Monsters and Critics April 23, 2011 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1634720.php/Pope-Benedict-XVI-holds-Good-Friday-Via-Crucis-procession Rome - Pope Benedict XVI presided over Rome's traditional Good Friday Way of the Cross procession, reminding the faithful how earthly temptations such as an obsession with personal success can make people lose their sense of humanity. In his opening prayer, the pontiff referred to the suffering inflicted on 'the youngest and weakest,' without directly referring to the widespread revelations that have emerged in recent years of sexual abuse of children by priests. 'It is the hour of darkness ... when an emptiness of sense and values nullifies the act of education and the disorder of the heart disfigures the ingenuousness of the youngest and the weakest,' Benedict said. During the procession, also known as Via Crucis, thousands of people, many carrying candles, wound their way round the Colosseum as they marked the 14 Stations of the Cross, which commemorate the last hours leading to Jesus' crucifixion. The 84-year-old Benedict followed proceedings by kneeling down on a platform situated on the Palatine Hill overlooking the ancient Roman amphitheatre. Volunteers, a disabled man in a wheelchair, and two families - one from Ethiopia and one from Rome - took turns carrying a wooden cross at the head of the procession, while prayers and meditations were read aloud at each of the 14 intervals. Both families included children - five in the case of the Roman family, with a set of 6-year-old triplets and another of 2-year-old twins. This year the meditations were penned by an Italian Augustinian nun, Sister Maria Rita Piccione. It marked the first time the pontiff has entrusted the task to a woman. In an interview, Piccione said that as a special tribute to childhood, she had added a short sentence to be read by a child at the beginning of each station. 'I would like for a child to read this for two reasons: first, to reclaim the simple gaze that immediately captures the heart of reality. Also to include the voice of children who have been exploited, hurt and offended,' Piccione told Catholic television news agency Rome Reports. Earlier Friday, Benedict himself made broadcasting history when he became the first pontiff to appear on television to answer several questions from the public, including from a child who survived the recent earthquake in Japan and a Muslim woman from strife-torn Ivory Coast. The pontiff told 7-year-old Japanese girl Elena that he did not know why people are made to suffer, but that consolation should be drawn from Jesus, who 'stands by our side' and suffered on the Cross. Benedict, who frequently reminds the faithful that according to Catholic teachings euthanasia is wrong, told a mother that her spending hours everyday by the side of her vegetative, coma-stricken son was an act of faith in God and of 'respect for human life, even in the saddest of situations.' In other questions posed to him, including by several Christian students from Iraq, Benedict stressed the need for peace and religious tolerance around the world. The pontiff is scheduled to lead an Easter vigil on Saturday at the Vatican. On Sunday, he is due to celebrate Easter Mass in St Peter's Basilica before delivering his Urbi et Orbi message and blessing 'to the city and the world.' Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is regarded by Christians as their most important religious feast.
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