Pope Leo XIV. on Good Friday in the Roman Coliseum he will carry the cross himself during the evening cross procession. TASR writes about it according to the AFP agency.
Christian religious observances on Good Friday commemorate the suffering of Jesus Christ on his way to Golgotha (Calvary), the place outside ancient Jerusalem where he was crucified and died. His resurrection is celebrated in the evening on White Saturday after dark, although liturgically it already belongs to Easter Sunday.
Lev’s predecessor František, who died on Easter Monday last year, did not wear the cross. Due to health reasons, he had to completely give up personal participation in the Way of the Cross in recent years. Pope Paul VI restored the tradition of the Way of the Cross in the Colosseum. in 1964, until then it was traditionally held in the Vatican, especially inside the Basilica of St. Peter.
On Sunday, Francis’ successor will deliver the traditional Urbi et Orbi (city and world) Easter blessing for the first time in front of tens of thousands of believers in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. It is one of the most important public blessings in the Catholic Church, and for the faithful it is associated with plenary indulgences (if conditions are met), similar to the Stations of the Cross. Augustinian Robert Francis Prevost as an American and Peruvian citizen at the same time he was elected the 267th Pope in the history of the Catholic Church last May; took the name Leo XIV.
