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Easter’s Way of the Cross procession in Rome has been led by Pope Francis, with prayers for the poor and the abandoned.

Via Crucis ceremony marks Christians’ commemoration of Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday. Tens of thousands of people lined the route near the 2,000-year-old Colosseum.

Pope Francis heard the Vatican’s official preacher deliver a sermon denouncing greed and the love of money.

The procession is part of the Church’s Easter triduum festival.

Pope Francis urged the crowd to “remember all the abandoned people” and spoke of the “monstrosity of man” when he lets evil guide him.

Easter's Way of the Cross procession in Rome has been led by Pope Francis, with prayers for the poor and the abandoned

Easter’s Way of the Cross procession in Rome has been led by Pope Francis, with prayers for the poor and the abandoned

“Evil won’t have the last word, but love, mercy and pardon will” he added at the end of the Way of the Cross.

The sermon, by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, spoke of the injustice of human trafficking and suffering caused by environmental damage.

“Money is behind every evil in our society” the preacher declared.

The procession route included 14 stages, known as Stations of the Cross, at which specially written meditations were recited.

One meditation touched on the plight of child soldiers, while another recalled the deaths of migrants trying to reach more prosperous countries.

Other meditations criticized overcrowding in prisons and the treatment of the elderly.

Immigrants, prisoners, former drug addicts and elderly people were among those who helped carry a large cross between the different stations.

On Saturday night, Pope Francis will celebrate an Easter vigil Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

Easter services will then conclude on Sunday with a Mass celebrating Jesus’s resurrection.

Pope Francis will deliver his twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message.

On Thursday, the Pope washed the feet of 12 disabled people in Rome as part of the Maundy Thursday service commemorating Christ’s Last Supper.

Pope Francis broke with tradition by washing the feet of several women and a Muslim man in a ceremony traditionally restricted to men only.

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Every year, on Good Friday, thousands of pilgrims go to the Colosseum to take part in the “Via Crucis” (the Way of the Cross) to honor and remember the Passion of Jesus.

As Pope Francis overlooked the crowds of faithful, the 14 stations of the Cross were carried out by priests, friars, sisters and laypeople from different parts of the world.

The ceremony included a series of prayers to reflect on Jesus’ Passion and his message.

Leading his first Way of the Cross as Pontiff, Pope Francis said only a few words are necessary to understand God's message

Leading his first Way of the Cross as Pontiff, Pope Francis said only a few words are necessary to understand God’s message

“Lord, we too carry a cross of suffering and illnesses, but we accept it because You are with us.”

Leading his first Way of the Cross as Pontiff, Pope Francis said only a few words are necessary to understand God’s message.

“Sometimes it may seem as though God does not react to evil, as if he is silent. And yet, God has spoken, he has replied, and his answer is the Cross of Christ: a word which is love, mercy, forgiveness.”

The Cross was carried by families from India and another from Italy. There was an ill person on a wheelchair and also people from countries were Christians are often persecuted.

A group of Catholics from Lebanon helped organize the reflections and meditations that were read during the ceremony. They made reference to the daily challenges Christians face in some regions, especially in the Middle East, for practicing their faith.

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