Pope Leo carries cross for full Good Friday procession, first to do so in decades

Pope Leo holds a wooden cross as he leads the Via Crucis procession at the Coliseum in Rome on Good Friday.

Photo: dpa Pope Leo lifted a wooden cross and held it aloft from his waist at the start of the 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 has set out to carry the cross to every station. “I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week outside the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.” Inside the Colosseum, Leo began the procession flanked by two young people holding torches, and followed by clergy.

At the first station, marking the moment Jesus was condemned to death, the meditation prepared especially for Leo’s first Good Friday underlined that those with authority will have to answer to God for how they exercise their power.

Pope Leo lies prostrate at the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St Peter’s Basilica on Good Friday.

Photo: AP “The power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instil violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge, or for reconciliation,’’ read the meditation written by Reverend Francesco Patton, who was custodian of the Holy Land 2016-25, charged, among other things, with looking after sacred sites.

Thousands gathered outside the pagan monument, where the procession continued, following the stations as they were recited over loudspeakers.

They included Sister Pelenatita Kieoma Finau from Samoa and a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary. “We have been part of our parish stations of the cross, but this is so exciting.

It is very meaningful to have the experience of being with the people of Rome on this special occasion,’’ she said.

John Paul II carried the cross for the entire procession from his first Good Friday as pontiff in 1979 until his hip surgery in 1995, when he carried it just part of the way, according to reports at the time.

For the first two years of his papacy, Benedict XVI carried the cross for the first station inside the Colosseum, then followed other bearers in the procession that ends on a platform on the Palatine Hill.

Pope Francis never carried the cross, but took part in the procession until his health worsened.

He died after a long i

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