Roman Way of Cross: Christ’s Passion continues today

How can you make an event that happened two thousand years ago relevant to today’s world? Well, the English speaking Justice and Peace promoters of men’s and women’s religious congregations based in Rome are attempting to do just that in organizing an unconventional Stations of the Cross that passes through some of the eternal city’s historic sites of worship and others rich in symbolism, drawing us into the mystery of Christ’s Passion and Crucifixion in Jerusalem and allowing us to see with new eyes the ways in which His suffering continues all around us in the form of war, human trafficking and slavery, child soldiers, poverty and injustices of every sort.

This modern day Stations of the Cross invites participants to remember that under Imperial Roman rule, tens of thousands of the earliest Christians perished under persecution on this city’s ancient streets – including St. Peter himself who was crucified upside down on Vatican hill.

One of the stops on this “Roman” Way of the Cross has included the Church of Domine Quo Vadis on the ancient Appian Way – the place leading out of Rome where tradition holds Christ met St. Peter who was fleeing from persecution. When asked, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus responded “to Rome to be crucified.” It was that encounter that led St. Peter to return to the city to face his own horrific end.

Sr. Toni Harris, Justice and Peace Promoter for Dominican Sisters International, took Tracey McClure on a virtual tour of some of the sites along this Roman pilgrimage . She says the Church of Domine Quo Vadis reminds us of those who even today are losing their lives for their faith in Jesus Christ.

“In many parts of the world, in increasing numbers of places, people can be faced with life or death.”

“I spoke with some of our Dominican sisters in northern Nigeria who said they didn’t know from day to day whether they would survive. They just didn’t know. If something happened in the West that upset the Islamic extremists, they might suffer retaliation because Christians are identified with the West in the eyes of some extremists. So that kind of thing, I think is an increasing reality in our world unfortunately.”

Another Church on the pilgrimage of the Justice and Peace Way of the Cross has been the one dedicated to Saints Nereus and Achilleus on the site of the fourth century Oratory of the Fasciola, named for the bandage that is supposed to have fallen from St. Peter’s wounds after his escape from the Mamertime prison.

The relics of the two first century Roman soldiers are buried beneath the high altar. They were martyred for their conversion to Christianity and refusal to carry out their military duties in obedience to Christ’s message of love.

“At that stop we reminded ourselves that there are more than 40 world conflicts and according to the United Nations, 90% of those killed since 1990 have been civilians. Global military spending today exceeds 2.1 trillion dollars.” Funds spent on development and the prevention of hunger, she notes, seem to be dwarfed by that colossal figure. “it’s just kind of overwhelming for me.”

Yet another stop on the Way of the Cross are the Baths of Caracalla, a sprawling 27 acre complex dating from 217 AD. Here, pilgrims are asked to reflect on the gift of clean water of which so many in the world are deprived.

“At that site, we reflected on the importance of water for all creation and that 884 million people, almost a billion, do not have access to safe drinking water.”

Nearby, this Way of the Cross takes Sr. Toni and the others to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the modern, linear architecture in stark contrast to the imposing 3^rd century stone baths just down the street.

Here, Sr. Toni says we are invited to recall that “one child dies every five seconds because of hunger in many parts of the world – 700 every hour – 16,000 every day.”

Join Sr. Toni as she takes us down this unusual Way of the Cross in this program produced by Tracey McClure: