VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — St. Peter’s Basilica inaugurated a new Stations of the Cross on February 20, with paintings by a young Swiss artist who won the Vatican’s international art competition and said in an interview with OSV News that he was deeply moved by the experience of painting St. Veronica’s encounter with Christ.

The 14 stations, which were prayed in St. Peter’s Basilica for the first time on the first Friday of Lent, will be displayed temporarily until Easter as part of the many initiatives to mark the 400th anniversary of the basilica’s consecration.

Manuel Andreas Dürr, a 36-year-old artist and father of three, was chosen after a commission of art historians, liturgists, and Vatican representatives unanimously selected his proposal from among more than 1,000 submissions from 80 countries in the art competition that the Vatican opened in December 2023.

“To paint Jesus is very, very difficult because he is not someone I am introducing; he is someone that billions of people already have an idea of and have a relationship with,” Dürr said ahead of the inauguration in St. Peter’s Basilica on February 20.

Dürr is not Catholic, but describes himself as theologically “quite close to Catholic faith.” He is a member of the Jahu community, a Christian group with roots in the Reformed Church that he said is “very ecumenical and influenced by different traditions.” He had previously painted Stations of the Cross for his local church in Switzerland in the past years. Now his Via Crucis hangs in one of the world’s most visited religious sites.

The experience of visiting the Vatican, he said, was the first time he understood the universal dimension of the Catholic Church.

“One thing that came as a bit of a shock, in a sense, was when I came to Rome, I suddenly realized that really this is a global Church,” he said. “My own church at home feels very provincial when I come here, and I see people of all ages, from all continents, and from all income classes, gathering around shared expressions of faith.”

An unexpected calling

Dürr spent eight months completing the paintings after winning the contest, which carried a cash prize of 120,000 euros, or about $131,000.

He had not sought out the competition himself. “I actually wasn’t aware of the competition,” he said. “A friend of mine suggested that I partake in it. Of course, I never dreamed that it would actually happen, but somehow here we are, almost two years later. And I’m really, really humbled by having the honor to attempt such a thing.”

Among the 14 stations, Dürr said one particularly moved him. “To my surprise, maybe, a little bit, Veronica was the most special station for me,” he told OSV News.

“She holds up a cloth which then has an imprint of the image of Christ. And I found basically that’s what I’m attempting to do. I’m painting on cloth in a small way. … And for me, this kind of dignity, I think, is what the painter is attempting to do, which is … to provide a trace of something deeper to be experienced.”

The Crucifixion scene, he said, was both the first oil painting he began and the last he completed.

“This story has shaped Christian art and European culture … the world’s culture, as no other story has,” he said. “And how this cross, which was intended as a symbol of terror, instilling fear into the subjects of the Roman Empire, suddenly becomes something that we wear around our necks as a symbol of hope.”

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, rector of St. Peter’s Basilica, presided over the inauguration at the Altar of the Chair in the basilica, where, afterward, the Way of the Cross was prayed with the new images for the first time.

Among those praying before the paintings that day was Hannah Kemper, a 27-year-old American who had no idea she was among the first to see the works on display. She had simply been visiting the basilica and felt drawn to pray the Stations of the Cross when she spotted them.

“How could you not feel close to our Lord, like in this place?” she said, looking around the basilica. “My senses are so heightened to his glory and to contrast that to his suffering on the cross — it’s just so beautiful.”