On his first Good Friday as pope, Pope Leo XIV personally carried a roughly 1.5-meter (5-foot) wooden cross through all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum, the first pontiff to do so in decades.
Speaking to reporters at the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, he said the act is meant to be a meaningful sign of his role as a spiritual leader and to affirm that Christ’s suffering remains at the center of Christian prayer; he added that he takes those sufferings into his own prayers.
In the torchlit ceremony inside the ancient arena, Leo lifted a lightweight cross and processed flanked by two torchbearers. The hourlong rite moved from the Colosseum interior through the assembled crowd and up steep steps to the Palatine Hill, where the pope gave the final blessing.
The meditation prepared for the first station, which recalls Jesus’ condemnation, emphasized that those in positions of authority will be held accountable by God for how they use power. The reflection, written by Rev. Francesco Patton, custodian of the Holy Land from 2016 to 2025, warned against using power to start or end wars, to instigate violence or peace, and to fuel revenge instead of reconciliation.
About 30,000 faithful followed the prayers as they were broadcast on loudspeakers outside the Colosseum. Among them was Sister Pelenatita Kieoma Finau of Samoa, a Missionary Sister of the Society of Mary, who said taking part with the people of Rome was deeply moving.
The gesture recalls earlier papal practices: John Paul II carried the cross for the full Via Crucis from his first Good Friday in 1979 until hip surgery in 1995 when he could only carry it partway. Benedict XVI carried the cross for the opening inside the Colosseum in his first two years, then handed it to other bearers for the remainder. Pope Francis never carried the cross and, as his health declined, took a smaller role in the rite; he died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, April 21.
Observers note differences in papal fitness: John Paul II was 58 when elected and was known as a hiker and outdoorsman, while his two successors were in their late 70s at the start of their papacies; Francis had lost part of a lung to a pulmonary infection when he was young.
The Way of the Cross commemorates Jesus’ final hours, from sentencing through crucifixion and burial, and concludes on a platform atop the Palatine Hill.
At 70, Pope Leo is regarded as physically fit—an avid tennis player and swimmer who worked out regularly at a Vatican-area gym. His former trainer said his regimen was more typical of a man in his early 50s.
Looking ahead, the pope will preside over the late-night Easter vigil on Holy Saturday and is expected to baptize new Catholics. On Easter Sunday he will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square, deliver his Easter message, and offer the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing to Rome and the world.