Thousands Mark Good Friday With Pope

Pope John Paul II led prayers for the traditional Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum on Good Friday as thousands of faithful turned out despite cold, rainy weather and concerns about security.

The 83-year-old pope, who has Parkinson’s disease, sat in a chair and observed the procession, which symbolically traces Christ’s path to his crucifixion.

Many people stood under umbrellas in pouring rain for hours to get a good view. The rain stopped shortly before the pope arrived at the Colosseum.

“Brothers and sisters, yet again we are reunited in following the Lord Jesus on the path that led him to Calvary,” John Paul said in an opening prayer.

Among the procession participants was a young woman from Madrid, included as a sign of solidarity with the city after the deadly March 11 train bombings there.

Two hours earlier, the pontiff presided over a two-hour service in St. Peter’s Basilica, in which he struggled to his knees to pray and kissed a wooden crucifix held to him.

John Paul’s public day began at noon, when aides wheeled him into a confessional booth in the basilica to hear confessions from five men and six women.

Pilgrims and tourists passed through metal detectors to enter the church -- one of several holiday security measures taken in Rome.

In Jerusalem’s Old City, Good Friday observances drew thousands of Christians, some carrying crosses or wearing crowns of thorns as they walked the cobblestone streets of the Via Dolorosa, the route tradition says Jesus took to his crucifixion.