Pope Leo XIV Marks First Holy Week as Pontiff, One Year After Francis Died

Pope Leo XIV used Palm Sunday to issue the defining statement of his first Holy Week as pontiff: that Jesus is a "King of Peace" who "no one can use to justify war." Speaking before thousands of faithful in St. Peter's Square on March 29, the first U.S.-born pope in the history of the Catholic Church framed the week around a message of peace directed at the world's armed conflicts, declaring that God "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them."

The homily landed with particular weight given the timing. Palm Sunday 2026 falls just eleven days short of the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis's death on April 21, 2025, making this Holy Week both a pastoral milestone and an emotional reckoning for the 1.4 billion Catholics Leo now leads. Francis died just one day after Easter Sunday 2025, and Leo, elected on May 8 of that year, missed Easter 2025 entirely, having been chosen weeks after it passed. Holy Week 2026 is his first as pope.

On Holy Thursday morning, Leo presided over the Chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, where he delivered a lengthy reflection on Christian mission, urging priests and faithful to become "prophets of unity" in a world in crisis. He called for "a new people, not of victims, but of witnesses," closing the homily with a direct challenge: "In this dark hour of history, it has pleased God to send us to spread the fragrance of Christ where the stench of death reigns."

By evening, Leo will celebrate the Mass of the Lord's Supper at 5:30 p.m. at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, where he is set to wash the feet of 12 Roman priests. The choice of venue itself carries institutional significance. Pope Francis had moved the Holy Thursday rite to prisons for years, prioritizing closeness to the incarcerated over liturgical convention. Eleven of the 12 priests whose feet Leo will wash were ordained by the pope himself last year, making the gesture both a formal return to tradition and a conspicuous expression of support for his own clergy. The Diocese of Rome released the names of all 12 priests in advance.

The remainder of the week extends the scope of his presence. Good Friday brings the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord at 5 p.m. inside St. Peter's Basilica, followed by the Stations of the Cross at 9:15 p.m. at the Colosseum, where thousands of the faithful carry candles through the ancient ruins. On Holy Saturday, Leo will preside over the Easter Vigil at 9 p.m., beginning in darkness with the blessing of a new fire and the lighting of the paschal candle, and is expected to baptize new Catholics into the faith. Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square follows at 10:15 a.m.

Born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago on September 14, 1955, Leo spent years far from Rome before rising to its center. He served as Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru from 2015 to 2023, before Pope Francis brought him to the Vatican as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the office overseeing episcopal appointments worldwide. When 133 cardinals entered the conclave on May 6, 2025, Prevost emerged two days later as the 267th Bishop of Rome, not only the first American to hold the office but also the first pope drawn from the Augustinian religious order.

His Holy Week also carries a distinction rooted in centuries of Catholic history. Pope Francis opened the 2025 Jubilee Year before his death; only once before, in 1700, had one pope opened a Holy Year and another closed it. Leo XIV now carries that responsibility into Easter.