Pope marks Good Friday

Pope marks Good Friday

The Pope can now barely move unaided

The Pope has prayed for the victims of war and terrorism in a sermon at the end of Good Friday ceremonies in Rome.

He spoke of the "blood poured out from so many victims of hate, of war, of terrorism" in a sermon after the traditional, torchlit Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession at the city's ancient Colosseum.

Sickness and old age kept the pontiff seated throughout the ceremony for the first time.

Good Friday is the darkest day of the Christian calendar when the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is commemorated.

Seated on a white throne on the Palatine Hill overlooking the ancient Romans' notorious arena, John Paul II asked God to "look upon the blood so many victims... and kindly permit that the course of world events play out according to your will in justice and peace".

Once he would have carried the tall wooden cross for the entire Via Crucis - a one-kilometre (half-mile) procession symbolising Christ's walk to his crucifixion and death - but this year he kept to his seat, only gripping the cross at the very end of the service.

Yet the 82-year-old pontiff, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and other illnesses, spoke in a clear voice as he delivered his sermon.

Symbolic procession

There was no direct mention of the war in Iraq, but among those permitted to carry the cross were an Iraqi mother and daughter who fled Baghdad shortly before it began.

Other cross-bearers included the widow and young son of Dr Carlo Urbani, the Italian World Health Organization doctor who first alerted the world to the existence of the Sars epidemic and died from it on 29 March.

Franciscan friars from the Holy Land and lay Catholics from the war zones of Colombia, Liberia and Sierra Leone also took part.

Correspondents say the Pope is likely to refer more directly to Iraq on Easter Sunday, when he delivers his traditional, twice-yearly "urbi et orbi" blessing and message.

It is the busiest week of the year for the Pope who, earlier on Friday, was hearing confessions from Catholics in St Peter's Basilica, in keeping with tradition.

Day of penance

In Mexico City, an estimated 800,000 people watched 4,500 actors perform the Passion of Christ.

Spain marks Good Friday in dramatic style

A 21-year-old computer student, Javier Romero Perez, was chosen to play the role of Christ, carrying a 90-kilo (200-pound) cross and wearing a crown of thorns in the blistering heat.

He told Mexican TV that he had trained for the event by lifting weights for two hours a day and running in parks carrying tree trunks.

Another actor in the pageant, 25-year-old dental assistant Leonardo Salazar, said he had been playing a Nazarene - crucified alongside Christ - for 14 consecutive years.

"We do this as a penance for our sins," he said. "At the end you are physically exhausted, but you feel beautiful inside."

Orthodox Christians this year mark Easter one week later than Catholics and other Western Christians.