Rome — Pope Francis' choice to have each Ukrainian and Russian households carry a cross collectively throughout an annual Good Friday celebration this week has drawn a backlash. The suggestive, candle-lit "Method of the Cross" procession, which takes place in Rome's historic Coliseum, commemorates Jesus Christ's final day on Earth.
Readings and prayers happen alongside 14 stations, representing particular occasions of that final day. Teams or people are chosen to hold the cross from one station to a different.
This 12 months, Pope Francis determined to incorporate a meditation written collectively by two households, one Ukrainian and one Russian. On the thirteenth station, which represents Jesus' dying on the cross, the 2 households will learn the reflection on how the warfare has affected them, then ladies from every household will carry a picket cross earlier than passing it to a household of migrants on the subsequent station. Each households dwell in Rome and the ladies are colleagues and mates.
Protests in opposition to the format — which critics say places the struggling of the Russian and Ukrainian households on a par — have been raised from these contained in the Catholic church in Ukraine.
Main Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the top of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which contains some 5 million worshippers, stated in a video assertion that he thought-about the concept "premature, ambiguous, and such that it doesn't have in mind the context of Russia's navy aggression in opposition to Ukraine."
He stated the texts and gestures of the thirteenth station within the procession have been "incoherent and even offensive, particularly within the context of the anticipated second, even bloodier assault of Russian troops on our cities and villages."
The Vatican's Ambassador to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, additionally objected. He advised a Catholic journal that "reconciliation should come when aggression is stopped, when Ukrainians will have the ability to not solely save their lives, but additionally their freedom. And, after all, we all know that reconciliation happens when the aggressor admits their guilt and apologizes."
Andrei Yurash, Ukraine's Ambassador to the Holy See, stated on Twitter that his embassy "understands and shares the overall concern in Ukraine and plenty of different communities concerning the thought to deliver collectively Ukrainian and Russian ladies" throughout the Method of the Cross. "Now we're engaged on the difficulty attempting to elucidate difficulties of its realization and potential penalties."
Father Antonio Spadaro, a detailed advisor to Francis, defended the pope's selection, saying on Italian TV that the top of the Catholic Church is a pastor, not a politician.
"I perceive that on this particular state of affairs it is a very painful gesture that may very well be misunderstood," he stated. "In a second akin to this one, a really troublesome second… the message that Pope Francis can provide is a prophetic one from the gospel — a message of reconciliation."
For the previous two years the Method of the Cross has been held in St. Peter's Sq. with out the same old crowds, on account of considerations over the coronavirus. However this 12 months the solemn celebration returns to the Coliseum, the place it has been held because the 18th century.
Francis used to hold the picket cross from station to station himself, however now he assigns the meditations to completely different teams or people. Previous bearers have included Roman kids and prisoners.
The theme for this 12 months's procession is the numerous "crosses" of household life. Moreover the Russian and Ukrainian households, this 12 months's procession will embrace reflections from a childless couple, households dealing with sickness and migrant households.