Pope Leo XIV Carries Cross at All 14 Stations, First Pope in 30 Years to Do So

Robert Francis Prevost, who took the name Leo XIV when he became the first American pope in Catholic Church history, walked through all 14 stations of the Via Crucis at Rome's Colosseum on Good Friday, personally bearing a lightweight, 1.5-meter wooden cross for the entire torchlit procession, the first pontiff to do so in more than three decades.

The ceremony began at approximately 9:15 PM local time, lasted about one hour, and drew roughly 30,000 faithful to the ancient monument. Flanked by two torchbearers throughout, Leo climbed the steep stairs to the Palatine Hill for the final blessing, his physical endurance marking an unmistakable departure from the practice of his immediate predecessors.

Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni confirmed, citing Vatican archival research, that the last pope to carry the cross through every station was Pope St. John Paul II, who did so from 1980 to 1994 before hip surgery changed his practice. Pope Benedict XVI carried the cross only at the first station inside the Colosseum before following other bearers. Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, never carried the cross during the procession and in his final years did not attend at all.

At 70 years old, Leo came to this moment with what his former personal trainer described as the fitness of a man in his early 50s. An avid tennis player and swimmer who worked out regularly at a gym near the Vatican before his election, he offered a physical contrast to both Benedict XVI and Francis, who each began their papacies in their late 70s. Francis had also been missing part of a lung since a pulmonary infection in his youth.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the week at the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, Leo framed his decision in terms of pastoral solidarity. "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," he said. "I carry all of this suffering in my prayer." He also invited all people of goodwill and Christians to "walk together, to walk with Christ who suffered for us to give salvation, life, and to seek how we may also be bearers of peace and not of hatred."

The meditations were written by Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, who served as Custos of the Holy Land from 2016 to 2025 and has been a persistent voice for those suffering amid Middle Eastern conflict. His text for the first station, marking the condemnation of Jesus, addressed those holding power directly: "The power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge, or for reconciliation."

The Colosseum procession traces a revival begun by Pope John XXIII in 1959 and given global reach in 1964, when Pope Paul VI led the ceremony before Eurovision cameras for the first time, transmitting the rite live across Europe. Pope Benedict XIV had formally dedicated the Colosseum to the memory of Christ's Passion and the early Christian martyrs in 1756.

Leo, the 267th Bishop of Rome, the first Augustinian pope, and the first American to hold the office, was elected on May 8, 2025, after fewer than 24 hours of conclave deliberations among 133 cardinals. He chose the name Leo in honor of Pope Leo XIII, author of Rerum novarum, the 1891 encyclical that established the foundations of modern Catholic social teaching. On Holy Saturday, he was set to preside over the Easter Vigil and baptize new Catholics into the Church.