On the afternoon of Good Friday, April 3, the Colosseum in Rome once again became the praying heart of the universal Church. In his first Way of the Cross as the Successor of Peter, Pope Leo XIV wished to introduce a gesture full of meaning: he himself carried the cross throughout the entire route.
It was not a one-off or merely symbolic gesture. The Holy Father carried the cross through all 14 stations, walking, climbing stairs, personally making the journey of the Passion. A gesture that we at Recoletos.org see as an expression of communion: the Pope does not walk alone; he carries the cross “on behalf of all,” becoming the voice and body of humanity’s suffering.
In a time marked by wars, uncertainty, and pain—as friar Francesco Patton, author of the meditations, has recalled on multiple occasions—this sign takes on particular force: the shepherd who takes upon himself the burden of his people.
A Way of the Cross with a Franciscan accent
This year’s meditations were entrusted to friar Francesco Patton, OFM, Custos of the Holy Land from 2016 to 2025. Written from Mount Nebo, in Jordan, they are deeply marked by the cry of the Middle East.
Pope Leo XIV also wished to make the words of Saint Francis of Assisi his own, incorporating them into the meditations and placing them on the lips of the Church. This is no minor device: it points to a poor, penitent, and supportive Church, which contemplates the cross not from the outside, but from within.
Thus, the Way of the Cross resonated with a Franciscan spirituality that invites identification with the suffering Christ and with today’s crucified.
A living tradition in the heart of Rome
The Colosseum Way of the Cross is one of the most significant Good Friday celebrations. Its recent history dates back to 1964, when Saint Paul VI revived this tradition in the Flavian Amphitheatre. Since then, each year the Pope presides over this rite, which follows the route to the area around the Palatine, near the Temple of Venus and the Convent of Saint Bonaventure.
However, its roots run deeper. In 1749, Benedict XIV declared the Colosseum a holy place, “soaked in the blood of the martyrs,” and established the Way of the Cross there. This gesture turned the ancient symbol of imperial power into a space of Christian remembrance.
The 14 stations: a path of communion
The route of Leo XIV’s first Way of the Cross followed the 14 traditional stations, each accompanied by a brief meditation:
- Jesus is condemned to death: the injustice that persists in history.
- Jesus takes up the cross: the burden assumed out of love.
- Jesus falls for the first time: shared human frailty.
- Jesus meets his Mother: faithfulness in sorrow.
- Simon of Cyrene helps carry the cross: the solidarity that saves.
- Veronica wipes the face of Jesus: concrete compassion.
- Jesus falls a second time: the weariness of the journey.
- Jesus comforts the women of Jerusalem: a gaze that transcends suffering.
- Jesus falls a third time: the extreme limit of weakness.
- Jesus is stripped of his garments: total humiliation.
- Jesus is nailed to the cross: radical self-giving.
- Jesus dies on the cross: love carried to the very end.
- Jesus is taken down from the cross: the silence of mourning.
- Jesus is laid in the tomb: waiting in the darkness.
At each station, the fact that the Pope carried the cross intensified the ecclesial dimension of the Way of the Cross: it is not only the remembrance of Christ, but the making-present of his mystery in the life of the Church, as friar Antonio Carrón, General Councillor, who experienced the celebration firsthand, stated for Recoletos.org.
A message for today’s Church
This first Way of the Cross of Pope Leo XIV leaves a clear pastoral key: the Church is called to carry the cross, not to contemplate it from a distance.
The Pope’s gesture is a direct challenge. In an age when the temptation may be self-referentiality or the search for security, the Successor of Peter reminds us that the Christian path is, essentially, discipleship.
From a sensitivity that can also be read in an Augustinian key, this Way of the Cross underscores that communion is not an abstract idea, but a concrete experience: walking together, suffering together, supporting the cross together.
Because, ultimately, it is not the Pope who carries the cross alone. It is Christ who continues to carry it in his Church. And the Church, in him, learns not to let it go.
