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Pope to Carry Cross for Entire Good Friday Procession
The first pontiff in decades to do so, Leo XIV will carry the cross through the full procession as Catholics mark Christ’s final hours.
- On Good Friday, Pope Leo XIV carried the wooden cross through all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum, marking the first time in decades a pontiff personally carried the cross for the entire service.
- Pope John Paul II carried the cross until 1995 when hip surgery limited his participation; Benedict XVI carried it only for the first station, and Pope Francis never carried it due to health concerns. At 70, Leo is physically fit, an avid tennis player and swimmer.
- Rev. Francesco Patton, former custodian of the Holy Land, composed the meditations read aloud at each station, writing that "The Way of the Cross is not intended for those who lead a pristinely pious or abstractly recollected life." Crowds gathered outside the Colosseum for the procession.
- Leo told reporters the procession represents an important spiritual sign, stating "Christ still suffers" and "I carry all of this suffering in my prayer." On Holy Saturday, he will preside over Easter vigil rites at St. Peter's Square.
- Leo's papacy marks a return to a tradition his predecessors could not maintain, resuming full participation in the Good Friday Way of the Cross service for the first time since Pope John Paul II's early papacy.
31 Articles
31 Articles
The Pope who carries the cross, as if to want to load himself with the wounds of the bloody world from the various fronts of war. But not only. The cross to bring also the sufferings of so many mothers who suffer and of the many people to whom dignity is taken away. Pope Leo XIV participated in the Way of the Cross of Good Friday at the Colosseum. In the texts, meditated along the 14 stations, the topicality of the conflict in the Middle East an…
Pope to carry cross for entire Good Friday procession
ROME — Pope Leo XIV will personally carry the wooden cross through all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope…
Pope Leo XIV carries cross through all 14 stations at Rome’s Colosseum
Italy witnessed a rare and highly symbolic Good Friday ceremony on 3 April as Pope Leo XIV carried a wooden cross through all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum, the first time in decades that a pope has performed the full rite in person.
The procession began in the Colosseum, accompanied by torchbearers, and lasted about an hour. At the end, Pope Leo gave a final blessing.
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