“Christ still suffers, and I carry all these sufferings too in my prayer.”
Lenten campaign 2026
This content is free of charge, as are all our articles.
Support us with a donation and enable us to continue to reach millions of readers.
Give now to support our mission
On April 3, 2026, Leo XIV participated for the first time as Successor of Peter in the Stations of the Cross in Rome. This devotional act, which commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, took place, as it does every Good Friday, at the Colosseum, with the participation of a large crowd.
[A photo gallery is at the end of the article.]
The Pope began this Way of the Cross within the walls of the Colosseum. For the occasion, the Roman amphitheater, a symbol of the martyrdom of the first Christians, was empty and lit by torches carried by the faithful and a cross illuminated with candles. It was Pope Benedict XIV in 1756 who dedicated the Colosseum to the memory of Christ’s Passion and the early Christian martyrs.
Pope Leo carried the cross himself during all 14 stations, something that had not been done since the early years of John Paul II’s pontificate. More commonly, the pope carries the cross for some of the stations but then it is carried by others by turns for the rest of the route.
On Tuesday of Holy Week, he was asked why he’d decided to carry the cross himself, and he said, “I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader today in the world, for this voice that everyone wants to hear to say that Christ still suffers, and I carry all these sufferings too in my prayer.”
At each station, a meditation, written by Father Francesco Patton, former Custos of the Holy Land, was read.
The Custos of the Holy Land is a member of the Franciscan religious order, which has been entrusted for centuries with caring for the sacred sites of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, including the churches built on the places linked to his Passion and burial.
The meditations drew from St. Francis’ writings, and given Fr. Patton’s long years of service in the Holy Land, brought to mind the sufferings of the Christians there especially at this time of war.
More than 30,000 Romans and pilgrims gathered around the Colosseum, according to local authorities. The city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, and Cardinal Baldo Reina, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, were present, as is tradition.
The crowd followed Jesus’ route for just over an hour in a fervent atmosphere. Leo XIV concluded the Stations of the Cross with a blessing facing the Colosseum, from a terrace overlooking the crowd.
In the last few years, the Way of the Cross in Rome had taken place without a pope: Since 2023, Pope Francis had had to give up taking part in the late evening Good Friday service, for health reasons, particularly his issues with breathing.
For Catholics, a time of waiting and reflection now begins, which will end on Saturday evening during the Easter Vigil and the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus.