"Because of the intense cold of these days,
Pope Francis will follow tonight's Via Crucis from Casa Santa Marta
, joining the prayers of those who will gather with the Diocese of Rome at the Colosseum".
The Vatican press office made it known.
A young Ukrainian and a young Russian could pray together tonight at the
Pope's
Via Crucis . It should happen at the tenth station ("Jesus is stripped of his clothes").
"Voices of peace from the young people of Ukraine and Russia" is the title of the meditation in which the two boys are supposed to tell their experience.
"Jesus, please
, let there be peace in the whole world and let us all be brothers," the young people will say.
The first testimony, again according to what transpires, will come from the
Holy Land.
"Voices of peace in a world of war"
is the title chosen by the Pope for tonight's Via Crucis at the Colosseum and dedicated, precisely, to the wars in the world and to the strong demand for peace.
According to what has been learned, refugees from various countries at war should carry the cross from one station to another: from Ukraine to Nigeria, from Iraq to South Sudan, from Syria to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
They are the victims of that "piecemeal third world war" of which the Pope speaks on every occasion.
In the stations - whose meditations should be made known by the Holy See during the day - reference could also be made to the suffering of Christians in some areas of the world, such as in the Middle East, or to the tensions that are re-emerging in some areas, such as in the Balkans.
Also according to what has been learned, the organizations that most support and help refugees in Italy would have been involved in the organization of the Pope's Via Crucis, while for Ukraine the Greek-Catholic church of Santa Sofia in Rome could make a contribution, from a year of humanitarian aid from Italy, and from the Holy See through the cardinal almsgiver Konrad Krajewski, to Kiev.
The scheme of the Via Crucis, according to leaked previews and pending the official texts that should be released in the late afternoon by the Holy See, should also see at the center of the meditations the voice of the migrants arriving in Europe from Africa, the appeal of young people of Latin America against drug trafficking and the corruption that is rampant in their countries.
And again: the testimony of a religious from the Balkan peninsula and a nun from central Africa would be expected, who will evoke in particular the sufferings of persecuted Christians.
It will be necessary to verify whether the Pope will confirm tonight the drafts of the text prepared, for the first time not published in advance by the Vatican.
Last year, after the controversy over the presence at a station of two friends, one Ukrainian and one Russian, Pope Francis decided that the meditation should not be read.
This was not enough to
avoid the diplomatic incident with Kiev.
