On Holy Thursday, in the gymnasium at St. Michael Catholic Academy in Thornhill, Ont., the lights are dimmed and reflective music is played as classes walk through an artistic Stations of the Cross display.

People following the Stations of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum this year will find along the Via Dolorosa a message of hope, including with a Russian and Ukrainian family both carrying a cross together at the nighttime ceremony.

PANAMA CITY – The path walked by Jesus to his passion and death on the cross is the same path of indifference and marginalization taken by those who suffer in the world today, Pope Francis said.

World Youth Day pilgrims can tell you many stories about the adventures we all had at Cinta Costera these last few days but none are more harrowing than my adventure to find a bathroom.

VATICAN – Going to Mass regularly, praying and doing good works are not enough to make a person a good Christian, Pope Francis said.

KINGSBURG, Calif. - Every year on Good Friday, Catholic communities throughout the world re-enact the Way of the Cross with live performances of the story of Christ’s final journey of His earthly life as a powerful reminder of His suffering and sacrifice.

VATICAN CITY - When he told Pope Francis that writing the meditations for the papal Way of the Cross service was tough, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia-Citta della Pieve said the Pope told him, “Remember, you aren’t doing it for me, but for the Church.”

VATICAN CITY - By reflecting on the Passion of Christ, the author of the Way of the Cross meditations for Pope Francis' Good Friday service said he will focus on the suffering unfolding in the world today and how "the martyrs of the 21st century are undoubtedly the apostles of today."

JERUSALEM - Several pilgrim groups gathered in a sunny courtyard in Jerusalem’s Old City. They were preparing to follow a tradition reaching back at least to the fifth century: walking along the Via Dolorosa, through the cobbled streets of Jerusalem’s Old City.

This year on Palm Sunday, we listen attentively to Mark’s Passion story of Jesus’ final days and hours on Earth — a story of striking contrasts. In Mark’s jarring story, we witness the anguish of Jesus who has been totally abandoned by friends and disciples. He is resigned to His fate. He makes no response to Judas when he betrays Him, nor to Pilate during His interrogation. In Mark, Pilate makes no effort to save Him, as the Roman procurator does in the other three Gospels.

BEIRUT - The Middle East is suffering a "Way of the Cross" that is the greatest tragedy since the Second World War, Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregoire III Laham said in a Lenten message about suffering.