St. Peter’s Basilica is inaugurating a new Way of the Cross on Friday afternoon. The Via Crucis created by the young Swiss artist Manuel Andreas Dürr who was selected following an international competition that received over a thousand submissions.
Vatican News
As part of the 400th anniversary of the Dedication of St. Peter’s Basilica (1626–2026), the Fabric of St. Peter is presenting this new Way of the Cross inside the Basilica.
The work was chosen after an international competition launched in December 2023. The call for submissions, open to all regardless of nationality, gender, age, or religious affiliation, drew over a thousand applications from eighty countries across five continents.
A Commission of art historians, liturgists, and representatives of Vatican institutions conducted the selection.
After reviewing résumés and photographic portfolios, fourteen artists were invited to submit two sketches each, including a mandatory design for the twelfth station of Jesus’ death on the Cross.
Dürr’s proposal was unanimously selected for its compositional balance and expressive power in portraying the Paschal mystery.
The fourteen stations, framed by the craftsmen of the Fabric of St. Peter, will be displayed along the central nave and around the Confession throughout Lent, offering a space for prayer and reflection for both the faithful and visitors.
Following the brief inauguration, the Way of the Cross rite will take place inside the Basilica.
Participants will move through the fourteen stations, meditating on the Passion of the Lord through readings, prayers, and moments of silence, in the heart of the sacred space that preserves the memory of the Apostle Peter.
With this new Way of the Cross, St. Peter’s Basilica renews the dialogue between art and liturgy, providing the Church and pilgrims with a visible expression of how beauty continues to illuminate the mystery of the Cross.
