VATICAN CITY (CNS) – For the first time in his 11-year papacy, Pope Francis has chosen to write his own meditations for the Good Friday Way of the Cross service at Rome’s Colosseum, the head of the Vatican press office said. For the service March 29, Pope Francis has chosen the theme “In prayer with Jesus on the way of the cross,” Matteo Bruni, the press office director, told reporters March 26. St. John Paul II began a tradition in 1985 of entrusting the writing of the meditations to cardinals and other church personalities, well-known writers or groups of people, including young people and journalists. However, he wrote the reflections himself for the Colosseum ceremony during the Holy Year 2000. Pope Francis has asked Catholics to observe 2024 as a year of prayer in preparation for the Holy Year 2025. The choice of “in prayer with Jesus” as the theme for the Way of the Cross, Bruni told reporters, is an indication that it will be “an act of meditation and spirituality with Jesus at the center.”