After bronchitis, cold weather forces Pope to skip Good Friday service
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Pope Francis coughs as he presides over the Passion of the Lord mass on Good Friday.
PHOTO: AFP
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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, who is recovering from bronchitis and last week spent three nights in hospital
About 20,000 people took part in the ceremony at the Colosseum in Rome. It was dedicated to victims of conflict, with a young Ukrainian and a young Russian praying for peace and brotherhood.
It was the first time that Pope Francis, 86, missed the annual service, which falls two days before Easter – Christianity’s most important holiday – in the 10 years of his papacy.
“Due to the intense cold of the past days, Pope Francis will follow this evening’s Way of the Cross from Casa Santa Marta, joining the prayer of those who will gather with the Diocese of Rome at the Colosseum,” the Vatican said.
Santa Marta is the Argentine pontiff’s residence within the Vatican.
An unusual cold snap in Rome has seen night-time temperatures fall to 10 deg C this week.
The pontiff sat through a Passion of the Lord service in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Friday afternoon, listening to three cantors and a choir recount in Latin the last hours in the life of Jesus Christ.
He also heard a sermon by the preacher of the papal household.
As is customary at such liturgies, Pope Francis did not deliver a homily. He showed no sign of discomfort, although he coughed several times during the service.
Pope Francis was in hospital last week for the treatment of bronchitis after complaining of breathing difficulties.
He recovered quickly with antibiotic therapy.
The Way of the Cross service commemorates the 14 stations of Jesus’ suffering and death, from his condemnation to his burial.
The participants stop to pray and hear meditations at the 14 Stations of the Cross, which commemorate the events in the last hours of the life of Jesus, starting with his arrest and ending with his burial.
Pope Francis, who appeared fine at two services on Thursday, usually makes impromptu remarks to thousands of people at the end of the Good Friday procession at the Colosseum.
The Vatican did not announce any changes to the rest of the Pope’s Holy Week schedule.
He is due to preside at an Easter vigil Mass on Saturday night in St Peter’s Basilica, and on Easter Sunday he is due to deliver his twice-annual “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing and message in St Peter’s Square.
The Easter Sunday blessing is held from the Basilica’s outdoor central balcony at noon.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Good Friday event which Pope Francis was forced to skip was moved to the Vatican and held in a slimmed-down version, but he did preside.
The last pope to skip a Good Friday Way of the Cross service was Pope John Paul II. Failing health prevented him from leaving the Vatican in the last weeks of his life in 2005. REUTERS
