VATICAN CITY, MAR 31 (ZENIT.org).- On the occasion of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, John Paul II will personally write the texts of the Good Friday Via Crucis meditations, which he will preside in the imposing setting of the Roman Colosseum, the place of martyrdom of many of the first Christians. This news was made public today by Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Vatican Press Office.

    John Paul II also wrote the commentary for the Via Crucis in 1984, the Extraordinary Holy Year of the Redemption.

    The Via Crucis is one of the most moving events in Rome during Holy Week. The Holy Father presides over the torch-lit nocturnal procession, arriving with thousands of pilgrims in the brightly lit Colosseum. The texts of the Via Crucis are generally written by outstanding writers, theologians, or witnesses to Christianity, including some from outside the Church. Last year, the author was Italian poet Mario Luzi. In 1995, Protestant nun Minke de Vries was the author, and in 1996, Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo. In 1997 Patriarch Karekin I of All Armenians wrote the texts, and in 1998, Orthodox lay theologian Olivier Clément. ZE00033111