Ecumenical Via Crucis in Rome

On 4 April, H.E. Msgr. Flavio Pace, Secretary of the DPCU, presided over an ecumenical Way of the Cross in Rome’s 4th Municipality, held under the motto: “Pilgrims of hope to the cross, we shall not be disappointed” (Rom 5:5).

Now in its fourth edition, the initiative took place in the streets of the district as a sign of shared Christian witness. It brought together members of the Armenian Catholic, Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Reformed traditions.

Pastors and faithful from the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Episcopalian Church of St Paul’s Within the Walls, the Church of Scotland, and the Director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office in Rome took part. On the Catholic side, participants included parish priests, lay faithful, and religious from the Basilica of San Vitale, the Basilica of San Camillo de Lellis, the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, St Patrick’s Catholic American Parish, the Church of San Nicola da Tolentino, along with a group of students from the Pontifical Armenian College.

The Way of the Cross included seven stations, with each community offering its own reflections, sacred spaces, and musical expressions. A symbolic exchange of gifts also took place, as a gesture of mutual enrichment through the sharing of spiritual traditions among the different communities.

The procession, which began at the Basilica of San Vitale, concluded at the Evangelical Lutheran Church with a common blessing imparted by all the ministers.