JOHN PAUL II WROTE MEDITATIONS FOR 2003 WAY OF THE CROSS

VATICAN CITY, APR 3, 2003 (VIS) - The meditations on the Way of the Cross for 2003 have been written by John Paul II, as he did for both the Jubilee in 1983-84 on the 1950th anniversary of the Redemption, and the Jubilee Year 2000 for the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth, according to a communique from Bishop Piero Marini, master of the Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations.

In the note, Bishop Marini affirms that this year's meditations, in which the 25th anniversary of the present pontificate is commemorated, were not composed to celebrate a "third jubilee" but rather to observe the spiritual exercises preached by the Holy Father, then cardinal archbishop of Krakow, in 1976 to Pope Paul VI and the Roman Curia.

"These meditations," says the note, "were published in 1977 with the emblematic title 'Sign of contradiction', and in 2001 a second edition was released." The Pope, writes Bishop Martini, wanted to propose once again the same Way of the Cross, the text of which has not been modified, as a meditation for Good Friday. John Paul II has never missed the celebration of the Way of the Cross in the Colosseum.

After recalling that on October 16, 2002, the 24th anniversary of his election as the successor of Peter, the Pope issued the Apostolic Letter "Rosarium Virginis Mariae" and proclaimed the Year of the Rosary (October 2002 to October 2003), Bishop Marini writes that in the prayers of the Way of the Cross the presence of Mary, Queen of Peace, is noted from the beginning.

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