Thousands join Pope for Good Friday service with Ukraine in mind

Thousands of faithful attended the "Way of the Cross" prayer service, presided over by Pope Francis at Rome's Colosseum on Friday, a ceremony overtaken by the war in Ukraine.

It was the first time the traditional event on Good Friday, which marks the day Jesus Christ died on the cross in the Christian calendar, was held at the Roman monument since 2019, due to the Covid pandemic.

It also comes two days before Easter, Christianity's most important holiday.

The pope, who has repeatedly condemned the conflict in Ukraine, and has called for an Easter ceasefire, prayed that the "adversaries shake hands" and "taste mutual forgiveness".

"Disarm the raised hand of brother against brother," he said.

"I have lived in Rome for more than 30 years but today it seemed very important to come," Stefania Cutolo, a 52-year-old Italian teacher, said as a choir rehearsed for the evening event.

"The message tonight, after two years of closure due to the pandemic, is doubly important. In this context where nationalism is returning to Europe, we must act," she added.

Shortly after 9pm, in front of 10,000 faithful, the Pontiff opened this highlight of Holy Week.

Organised since 1964 in the sumptuously illuminated Roman amphitheatre, the Way of the Cross event was held in Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican for the last two years, with very low attendances amid the health crisis.

"We meet the whole world here, we hear all languages. It's marvellous," enthused Marie-Agnes Bethouart, 71, who arrived at Friday's event with her husband and two grandsons.

Among the crowd, a yellow and blue flag stood out among the candles. They are the colours of Ukraine. 

Among the families who were entrusted with carrying the crucifix at each of the 14 stations of the cross were two women, one Russian and one Ukrainian, who are life-long friends.

The women carried the cross during one portion of the Way of the Cross, the traditional procession that commemorates the 14 stations of Jesus' suffering and death, from his condemnation to his burial. 

But the Vatican's initiative, intended as a gesture of reconciliation in the face of the war that began February 24, was not well received by Ukrainian officials.

The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, denounced an "inappropriate, premature and ambiguous idea, which does not take into account the context of Russia's military aggression". 

For his part, the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See said he "shared the general concern".