(ANS – Rome) – For the second consecutive year, the Salesian Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome—located just across from the city’s main train station and part of the same complex that houses the Salesian Headquarters—joined the diocesan Caritas initiative, “Via Crucis of the Invisible.”

The prayerful procession began at the Salesian basilica and wound its way along Via Marsala, an area symbolic of urban marginalization. Through prayer, it remembered the poor, the excluded, and the many modern-day “crucified”: families burdened by debt and loneliness, rejected migrants, invisible men and women, and those who suffer from the indifference of hardened hearts.

The initiative was part of the events organized by Caritas of Rome for the Jubilee Year 2025, which invites people to live this time as “pilgrims of hope.” It’s a call to experience faith as a concrete act of closeness, recognizing in the face of those on the margins a fellow traveler, someone to walk with and share in hope.

The procession took place in the late afternoon and evening of Friday, April 11, 2025. It was presided over by Bishop Michele Di Tolve, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome, accompanied by Fr. Javier Ortiz, parish priest of the Salesian basilica. The first station took place inside the basilica itself. The meditation booklet read: “Tonight we choose not only to see those around us, but to allow ourselves to be seen—to be touched by the gaze of another, a gaze that can profoundly transform us. In that gaze, we can find God.”

From there, the procession moved outside to Via Marsala. Ordinary citizens, parishioners, religious sisters and priests, young volunteers, and many poor individuals—including guests of the Caritas shelter “Luigi Di Liegro” and diners at the “John Paul II” soup kitchen—walked together, blending into the Friday evening crowd.

The prayerful march caught the attention of tourists and drew local residents to their windows. Along the route, reflections were read aloud, written by Giuliana, Carlo, Manuele, Marta, Renata, Irina, and Andrea—individuals who live on the margins but who, thanks to the help of many, are being offered a chance to start anew.

As the sun set, the procession reached its final destination: the “Luigi di Liegro” Caritas shelter. This is the same shelter Pope Francis visited on December 18, 2015, where he opened the Holy Door of Charity for the Jubilee of Mercy. On that occasion, the Pope remarked, “This is the door where so many discarded people are helped. May it help us all understand that it would be beautiful if each of us, every Roman, could feel discarded in some way and recognize their need for God’s help.”

Reflecting on the event, Bishop Di Tolve said:
“We should remember the gaze of Jesus upon Zacchaeus. When we allow ourselves to be met by the gaze of a brother or sister, we realize that it is the Lord who is seeking us in that gaze. That’s what we want to witness—to walk humbly among others while meeting the eyes of those around us.”

Giustino Trincia, Director of Caritas Rome, echoed this sentiment:
“This is a city full of invisible people—highly visible, yet so often ignored. So, the message we bring with this Way of the Cross is about seeing and being seen. But it’s also about hope: the Way of the Cross ultimately leads to Jesus Christ, crucified, but risen, who conquers death.”