Images from Good Friday in Rome

This evening I attend the Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. As one of many priests helping with the distribution of Holy Communion, I was seated behind the altar and so saw very little. Following the distribution of Holy Communion, however, I was able to take a couple of pictures:

Pope Francis, following the Prayer after Communion.

Pope Francis leaving the basilica, in rather a hurry.

The crucifix left for the veneration of the faithful.

As I exited the basilica, I was struck by the only Cardinal visiting with the faithful after the Liturgy, His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura:

 

Cardinal Burke takes a lot of heat in the press and from Catholics, but he truly has a pastor's heart.