Minute-Long Procession: Francis and Tourist Monument

minute-long procession: After the 90-minute-long procession ended, Francis, in a quiet voice, read a prayer he composed that alternated expressing shame for humanity's failings and hope that hardened hearts will become capable of forgiving and loving, according to CTV. With Easter two days away, Francis said faithful look to Christ with eyes lowered in shame and with hearts full of hope. Francis, wearing a plain white coat, presided over the traditional, evening Way of the Cross procession from a rise overlooking the popular tourist monument as faithful took turns carrying a tall cross and meditations were recited to encourage reflection on Jesus' suffering and crucifixion. Such shame, he said, derives from all those images of devastation, destruction, shipwrecks, that have become routine in our lives. Evoking wars and conflicts, as well as attacks on Christian minorities, Francis also voiced shame for the innocent blood spilled daily by women, children, immigrants, and persons persecuted because of the colour of their skin, or for the ethnic or social group they belong to, and for their faith in Jesus. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have endured hardships at the hands of human traffickers to try to reach Europe, which has increasingly been rejecting them, and thousands of them have perished at sea during the last few years. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.