"Fomenting division," Cardinal Cantalamessa said, "is the work par excellence of the one whose name is diabolos -- that is, the divider."

Some sources trace the tradition back to Peruvian Jesuit priest Francisco del Castillo, who in 1660 preached for three hours on Good Friday, comparing the sufferings of Christ with the sufferings of the slaves and indigenous people.

The vaccination program at Paul VI is part and parcel of the push Pope Francis has been making to see that vaccine doses are distributed with a view to the safety of the most vulnerable. 

Tessa Balfour on her family tradition: potted shrimps for supper on Holy Saturday.

“If mere circumstances conditioned the saving power of the cross,” Pope Francis went on to say, “the Lord would not have embraced everything. But when his hour came, he embraced the cross fully. For on the cross there can be no ambiguity!”