The Pope presides over the celebration of the Passion of Jesus in San Pedro, without prostrating himself due to his mobility problems

ROMA, 7 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Pope has arrived in a wheelchair at the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican to preside over the celebration of the Passion of Jesus, although tonight he will continue the Via Crucis from his residence, in Casa Santa Marta, due to the cold weather in Rome .

Francisco, dressed in a red chasuble, has not prostrated himself in prayer on the ground in front of Bernini's canopy as in other years due to his mobility problems and has replaced this moment with a silent prayer.

The homily of the most sober of the Holy Week offices, which recalls the last hours of Jesus on Earth, was delivered by the preacher of the Papal Household, Cardinal Rainiero Cantalamessa, who focused on the announcement of the "death of God".

Cantalamessa has stressed that in the "de-Christianized" Western world, the death of Jesus has been seen from an "ideological and non-historical" position, which has even been studied by theologians since Nietzsche's announcement.

"Apparently, it is not Nothing that puts itself in the place of God, but man, and more precisely the 'superman', or the beyond-man", he pointed out commenting on the German philosopher. Faced with this, he has warned that "left to himself, man is nothing."

.Cantalamessa has also commented on the Nietzschean motto "beyond good and evil" to highlight man's "will to power". "We are not allowed to judge the heart of a man known only to God. Even the author of that ad has had his share of suffering in life, and suffering unites Christ, perhaps, more than it is separated from Him by invective," he said.

The liturgy began with the Basilica of San Pedro in darkness and without songs.

The preacher of the Papal Household has pointed out that "for modern man, all this [the Passion narrative] seems nothing more than an etiological myth to explain the existence of evil in the world. And - in the positive sense that is gives today to the myth - that's how it really is!".

However, he has pointed out that history, literature and one's own personal experience "say that behind this 'myth' there is a transcendent truth that no historical narrative or philosophical reasoning could convey.

"God knows our pride and has come to meet us. He has 'annihilated' himself first before our eyes," he said. "It was us, you and I, who killed Jesus of Nazareth! He died for our sins and for those of the whole world".

In this sense, he has stressed that his resurrection "ensures that this path does not lead to defeat", but rather "leads to that 'apotheosis of life', sought in vain by other paths" without wanting to "convince atheists that God is not dead".