Former Vicar for Rome to write Good Friday’s Way of the Cross meditations

(March 26, 2010) Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini has been asked by Pope Benedict XVI to write the meditations for this year's Way of the Cross on Good Friday at the Colosseum in Rome. According to the Pope’s Holy Week program, the Holy Father will follow the tradition and preside over the commemoration of Jesus’ last hours, which will be broadcast live from Rome. 79-year old cardinal was the Pope's vicar for the Diocese of Rome from 1991 to 2008. He also served as president of the Italian bishops conference for three terms from 1991 until 2007. In the past years Pope Benedict entrusted the meditations for the Way of the Cross to two Italians and three Asian prelates, among them, Chinese Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun, Archbishop of Hong Kong in 2008, and Indian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati, last year. The tradition of the Way of the Cross in the Colosseum dates back to the 18th century, from the pontificate of Pope Benedict XIV, in the Holy Year 1750. Pope Paul VI re-established it in 1964. This year, Good Friday falls on April 2, the fifth anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death.