Pope Leo XIV's first Holy Week will maintain the traditional Way of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome and return the Holy Thursday Mass to the historic Basilica of St. John Lateran, a change from the tradition of Francis, who celebrated it in a prison or migrant center. The Vatican Office of Liturgical Celebrations published this Tuesday the calendar of rites and celebrations for Leo XIV between February and April, which includes his first Holy Week as pontiff following his election at the May 2025 conclave. The events will begin with the Palm Sunday Mass on March 29 in St. Peter's Square, where the American pope will commemorate the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. This will be followed by the Paschal Triduum, the three days with which the Catholic Church recalls his passion, death, and resurrection. On Holy Thursday, April 2, the traditional Chrism Mass will begin at 9:30 a.m. local time (8:30 a.m. GMT) in the Vatican Basilica, followed in the afternoon by the 'Last Supper' Mass at the Roman Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the popes. This is the most outstanding novelty in this calendar, as during the twelve years of Francis's pontificate, this mass was celebrated in prisons or reception centers, where the Argentine pope also performed the 'foot washing' rite with prisoners or migrants. This tradition is not, for now, included in Leo XIV's calendar. On Good Friday, which commemorates the death of Jesus Christ, the only day of the year without Mass as a sign of mourning, the pope will preside over the Celebration of the Lord's Passion in St. Peter's Basilica, an act in which pontiffs usually prostrate themselves on the ground in the temple. In the evening, Leo XIV will maintain the traditional Way of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome, a symbol of the persecution of the early Christians. His first Holy Week will culminate with the Easter Mass on Easter Sunday, April 5, in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, followed by his 'Urbi et Orbi' (to the City and to the World) blessing from the central loggia of the basilica. In addition to the rites of the most important week of the liturgical calendar, the Holy See has also informed of the intense schedule that Leo XIV will have to fulfill in February and March. As Bishop of Rome, he has scheduled pastoral visits to five parishes in Rome from February 15, when he will go to the coastal neighborhood of Ostia, until March 15 in the peripheral area of Ponte Mammolo. On the other hand, from February 22 to 27, he will preside over Spiritual Exercises with the Roman Curia in the Apostolic Palace, thus maintaining a 'Jesuit' tradition of Francis. Finally, on February 18, Leo XIV will celebrate the Ash Wednesday Mass and the procession between the church of St. Anselm and the basilica of St. Sabina in Rome.
