Pope Francis, presiding at a Good Friday service, asked God for forgiveness for scandals in the Catholic Church and for the "shame" of humanity becoming inured to daily scenes of bombed cities and drowning migrants, APA reports quoting Reuters.
Francis presided at a traditional candlelight Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) service at Rome's Colosseum attended by some 20,000 people and protected by heavy security following recent attacks in European cities.
Francis sat while a large wooden cross was carried in procession, stopping 14 times to mark events in the last hours of Jesus' life from being sentenced to death to his burial.
Similar services, known as the Stations of the Cross, were taking place in cities around the world as Christians gathered to commemorate Jesus' death by crucifixion.
At the end of the two-hour service, Francis read a prayer he wrote that was woven around the theme of shame and hope.
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