Pope Francis will preside over the Easter Vigil service on Saturday night, just hours after a last-minute cancellation caused him to miss a Good Friday procession in Rome for health reasons, the Vatican confirmed.
The 87-year-old pontiff was expected to preside over last night’s Via Crucis procession, which is a reenactment of Jesus’ death by crucifixion, but he turned down the event to ‘preserve your health.’
On Saturday, the Vatican’s daily bulletin confirmed that Pope Francis would lead the long vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica, one of the most solemn and important moments in the Catholic liturgical calendar.
The service, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. and usually lasts two hours, commemorates the resurrection of Jesus and includes the sacrament of baptism for eight adult converts.
Francisco, who had part of his lung removed when he was young, has been battling breathing problems during the winter months that have made it difficult for him to speak much.
The service, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. and usually lasts two hours, commemorates the resurrection of Jesus and includes the sacrament of baptism for eight adult converts.
Pope Francis, seen in St Peter’s Basilica on Good Friday, will preside at the Easter Vigil on Saturday night, just hours after canceling his attendance at a procession in Rome for health reasons, the Vatican confirmed.
Pope Francis arrived at St. Peter’s Basilica on Good Friday in a wheelchair and a few hours later abandoned a procession at the Colosseum in Rome to “preserve his health.”
He canceled some hearings and often asked an aide to read aloud some of his speeches.
But he canceled his Palm Sunday homily altogether and decided at the last minute yesterday (Friday) to stay home rather than preside over the Via Crucis procession at the Colosseum.
The Vatican said in a brief explanation that the decision was made to “preserve his health” in view of the Saturday vigil and his even more demanding obligations on Easter Sunday.
Earlier on Friday, the Pope presided over the liturgy of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ in St. Peter’s Basilica, having arrived at the event in a wheelchair.
The liturgy, which is a form of Christian worship, replaces the Good Friday mass and commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus.
The Pope will preside over an Easter morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square and deliver his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) speech praying for an end to global crises.
While Francis also skipped the cold Good Friday procession last year because he was recovering from bronchitis, his sudden absence from the event this year raised concerns.
His chair was already placed on the podium and his attendees were preparing for his arrival when the Vatican announced five minutes before the official start time that he would not be attending.
In addition to his breathing problems, Francis had a piece of his large intestine removed in 2021 and was hospitalized twice last year, including once to remove intestinal scar tissue from previous surgeries to treat diverticulosis, or lumps in the intestinal wall.
He has been using a wheelchair or cane for almost two years due to knee ligament problems.
In his recently published memoir, Life: My Story Through History, Francisco said he is not suffering from any health problems that would force him to resign and that he still has “many projects to carry out.”
The Via Crucis at the Colosseum is a re-enactment of Jesus’ death by crucifixion, in which participants take turns holding the cross as they walk in and around the ancient Roman arena, stopping to pray and listen to meditations.
In other parts of the world, Christians of different denominations also commemorated Good Friday.
In Jerusalem, worshipers participated in a scaled-down Good Friday service due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
The day’s processions, which normally attract thousands of foreign visitors, were unusually local. Most of the observers were Palestinian Christians, joined by some foreigners living in Jerusalem and some unfazed tourists.
The traditional Good Friday procession passes along the Via Crucis, or Via Dolorosa, the route Jesus is believed to have walked until his crucifixion. Squads of Israeli police set up barricades along the road, diverting shoppers from the bustling Muslim quarter of the Old City to make way for hundreds of pilgrims.
A group of young Palestinians led the day’s procession, passing by 14 stations along the route, each marking an event that happened to Jesus on his final journey. Hundreds of Palestinian Christians walked behind them. Behind them was a small parade from the Franciscan religious order, composed mainly of foreigners living in Jerusalem.
The celebrations coincided with the third Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and worshipers once again flocked to the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray.
Despite fears that the ongoing war would lead to clashes at the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque, the month has so far passed peacefully under tight Israeli security.
Palestinian Christians take part in the Good Friday procession in the Old City of Jerusalem. The day’s processions, which normally attract thousands of foreign visitors, were unusually local. Most of the observers were Palestinian Christians.