Pope reflects on disasters after Italy's quake

By Phil Stewart

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict reflected on the tragedies and disasters that test faith during a Good Friday procession in Rome, just hours after Italians buried victims of the country's devastating earthquake.

The pontiff offered a special prayer for survivors of Monday's quake, asking that they find hope, despite a disaster that killed at least 289 people and left almost 40,000 homeless.

"We pray that even for them, on this dark night, a star of hope appears, the light of the risen Lord," said the pope, who soon plans to visit the disaster zone in the Abruzzo region.

He was presiding over the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession around Rome's Colosseum, commemorating Christ's crucifixion and death.

Attended by tens of thousands of people, the solemn, night-time ceremony is one of the main services before Easter, the climax of the Christian year.

In this year's ceremony, the pope listened to meditations that began by urging the faithful not to lose faith in trying times. They were written by Indian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil.

"When misfortune hits us close to home, we grow disheartened. When we fall direct victims of a disaster, our self-confidence is totally shaken and our faith is put to the test. But all is not lost yet," Menamparampil wrote.

Although composed before the disaster, the mediations took on special significance for a country grappling with its most deadly earthquake in three decades.