Pope Leo XIV himself will carry the cross during the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum next Friday, April 3, 2026 – Good Friday – a Vatican source told I.Media on March 31. The meditations for this 14-station procession, which commemorates Christ's Passion and death, are written by Father Francesco Patton, former Custos of the Holy Land.
Every year on Good Friday, the Colosseum is the setting for the Via Crucis, traditionally attended by the Bishop of Rome, and the mayor of the city. The famous oval-shaped amphitheater is illuminated, and prayers are broadcast over its loudspeakers between each of the 14 stations that recount the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus.
This year, Pope Leo XIV will carry the cross on the slopes of the Esquiline Hill. This gesture is not unprecedented: While under his predecessor Francis, various groups of the faithful took turns carrying it in procession, John Paul II and Benedict XVI had already carried it themselves in the early years of their pontificates.
The head of the Catholic Church customarily entrusts writing the meditations for the Stations of the Cross to different authors each year.
This Good Friday, they are prepared by the Franciscan priest Francesco Patton, who served as Custos of the Holy Land and Guardian of Mount Zion – in charge of the care of the Holy Places in Jerusalem – until June 2024.
