Way of the Cross ceremony takes place at Colosseum on Friday night.
Pope Leo XIV is to carry the Cross through all 14 stations of the Via Crucis at Rome’s Colosseum on Good Friday, 3 April, in the first such ceremony of his pontificate.
It is also the first time that a pope will carry the Cross for every station of the Via Crucis ceremony at the Colosseum since the tradition was revived at the site more than six decades ago, the Vatican said.
Pope Leo’s predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI carried the cross only at the opening and closing of the ceremony.
The torchlit ceremony, which commemorates the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, is scheduled to begin at 21.15.
The meditations for this year’s ceremony were written by Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, who served as Custos of the Holy Land from 2016 to 2025, at Pope Leo’s personal request.
Writing frequently from Mount Nebo in Jordan, Father Patton has been a prominent voice on behalf of those affected by conflict and instability across the Middle East, Vatican News reports.
The Colosseum’s association with the Via Crucis dates to 1756, when Pope Benedict XIV dedicated the site to the memory of the Passion of Christ and the early Christian martyrs.
Pope St John XXIII restored the Good Friday tradition there in 1959, with Pope St Paul VI establishing it as a regular fixture of the Roman liturgical calendar from 1964 onwards.
The practice was suspended during the covid lockdowns and Pope Francis was unable to preside over the event in the final years of his pontificate due to declining health. The last papal Via Crucis at the Colosseum was in 2022.
There are no tickets required for solemn event which is part of the Vatican’s liturgical programme for Holy Week or Settimana Santa and will be broadcast live by Italian television channel RAI Uno and live-streamed by Vatican Media.
The Via Crucis ceremony will result in the early closure of the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and Domus Aurea, and will also lead to road closures and traffic restrictions in the surrounding area.
Photo credit: AM113 / Shutterstock.com
