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The Via Crucis in 2021 was dedicated to children, who were the protagonists in the texts and in the presence in Praça São Pedro.
Vatican News
The children and their crosses were at the center of the Via Crucis presided over by Pope Francis on the night of Good Friday, held for the second consecutive year in Praça São Pedro, due to the pandemic.
The child authors of the texts were the same ones who carried the cross in the semi-desert scene of the Vatican.
The 14 stations were placed around the obelisk and along the path leading to the Basilica’s cemetery. Torches on the ground traced the course, forming a great luminous cross. At each stage of Calvary, a drawing and a prayer, like this: “Jesus, help us not to abandon our prayers when we feel our heavy hearts in front of the stone of your tomb.”
The Boy Scouts, the pilgrims, the children living in “family homes” reflected anguish, anxieties, concerns at every time of the year. Everyday childhood scenes were recorded on paper, such as a fight with the mother, disagreements at school, a failed assignment. There was also room for the arrival of a new migrant friend and the relationship with their own limits and the challenge of maturity. Daily life transformed by the pandemic and mourning was externalized. Negative experiences gave way to solidarity, inclusion, improvement and hope.
In the final prayer, the request of the adults to the Lord “help us to make ourselves small, in need of everything, open to life”, recovering the purity of our eyes and our hearts.
In the end, the Pontiff greeted the little ones, surrounding himself with them.
