VATICAN CITY.- Pope Francis presided over the Easter vigil this Saturday in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, allaying concerns about his fragile state of health after he unexpectedly canceled his participation in the Stations of the Cross.
The 87-year-old supreme pontiff arrived at the basilica shortly before 7:30 p.m. local Vatican time, dressed in white and in a wheelchair to lead this ceremony of about two hours, in the presence of 6,000 faithful, before of this Sunday morning’s mass and the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing.
The basilica remained in darkness before being illuminated by candles, a rite that symbolizes the resurrection of Christ, according to Catholic tradition. Next, the Argentine Pope delivered a ten-minute homily in Italian, in a clear voice.
During the liturgy, he denounced “the walls of selfishness and indifference,” and “all aspirations for peace destroyed by the cruelty of hatred and the barbarity of war.”
His presence had been confirmed at noon on Saturday by the Vatican, despite the cancellation on Friday night, at the last minute, of his participation in the Stations of the Cross in the Colosseum, with the aim of “preserving his health.”
The timing of the announcement – shortly before the start of the ceremony, forcing organizers to hastily remove the Pope’s chair – and the laconic communication from the Vatican helped fuel concerns about Jorge Bergoglio’s health.
“The via crucis of the fragile Pope,” headlined the newspaper La Stampa on Saturday, while Il Messaggero saw it as a “resignation of Francis.”
“This is a simple measure of prudence,” a Vatican source attempted to clarify, assuring that the Pope’s health did not give rise to “any particular concern.”
The Argentine Jesuit had already canceled his participation in the Stations of the Cross in 2023, but this decision was made after a three-day hospitalization due to bronchitis and was communicated in advance.
A busy week
Holy Week, one of the pillars of the Catholic liturgical calendar, includes numerous ceremonies that end with Easter and can be compared to a marathon for an octogenarian who has been traveling in a wheelchair for two years.
In recent days, Francis fulfilled his commitments and presided over the celebration of the Passion of Christ for almost two hours on Friday afternoon, before canceling his presence at the Stations of the Cross.
But recently he appeared tired and was forced on several occasions to delegate the reading of his speeches due to bronchitis that forced him to be examined in a hospital in Rome at the end of February.
He also canceled the reading of his Palm Sunday homily, without giving any explanation.
Friday’s annulment revived questions about his ability to continue leading the Catholic Church and its 1.3 billion faithful.
Despite a major abdominal operation in 2023, Francis, who never takes vacations, continues a frenetic pace of work in the Vatican, where he can receive a dozen interlocutors in a morning.
However, he has not made any trips since his visit to Marseille, in the south of France, in September and had to cancel his presence at COP28 in December in Dubai due to bronchitis.
His announced trip to the confines of Asia and Oceania this summer, which the Vatican has not formalized until now, seems more uncertain than ever. The Pope also plans to travel to Venice on April 28.
Francis always leaves “the door open” to a possible resignation, in line with his predecessor Benedict XVI. But in an autobiography published in mid-March, he reiterated that he has no “serious reasons” to resign from his position, a “distant hypothesis” that would be justified only in the case of “serious physical impediment.”
Source: With information from AFP
