On his first Good Friday as pope, Pope Leo XIV made a prominent, public appearance at the Colosseum by carrying a wooden cross through the full Way of the Cross, moving station by station across the historic site.
Leo told reporters outside the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo that he expected the gesture to matter because it reflects what the pope represents as a spiritual leader and because, in his view, “Christ still suffers.” He added, “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.”
Inside the Colosseum, the pope began the hour-long procession after lifting the cross, flanked by two torchbearers who accompanied him through the route. The rite ran from inside the Colosseum, out through the crowd, and then up steep stairs to the Palatine Hill, where he gave the final blessing.
At the first station, marking the moment Jesus was condemned to death, the meditation prepared especially for Leo’s first Good Friday underlined a message directed at those who hold power. The text prepared for the station, read from a meditation written by Rev. Francesco Patton—who was custodian of the Holy Land from 2016 to 2025—said that “The power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge, or for reconciliation.”
Some 30,000 faithful gathered outside the pagan monument to follow the stations as they were recited over loudspeakers. The crowd included Sister Pelenatita Kieoma Finau from Samoa and a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.
Finau described the experience as meaningful after having taken part in parish stations before. She said, “We have been part of our parish stations of the cross, but this is so exciting. It is very meaningful to have the experience of being with the people of Rome on this special occasion.”
The AP reported that the last time a pope carried the cross for the entire procession was several decades ago. John Paul II did so from his first Good Friday in 1979 until hip surgery in 1995 limited him to carrying it just part of the way, and Benedict XVI carried it only for the first station during his first two years before following other bearers in the rest of the procession.
The AP said Pope Francis never carried the cross, but took part in the procession until his health worsened. Francis died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, which fell on April 21, according to the report, and the story noted that Francis had been missing part of a lung due to a pulmonary infection when he was younger.
The Way of the Cross commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, from his death sentence through taking up the cross and the crucifixion, death, and burial. The procession ends outside the Colosseum atop the Palatine Hill, where Patton wrote in the introduction that the practice “is the exercise of one who knows that faith, hope and charity must be incarnated in the real world.”
After the Good Friday procession, the AP said Leo’s Holy Week schedule includes presiding over a late-night Easter vigil on Holy Saturday, during which he will baptize new Catholics and lead Roman Catholics into the Easter celebration, and then holding an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday before delivering his Easter message and offering the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing.