Efe Vatican City
Vatican City
Updated Saturday, March 30, 2024-1:30 p.m.
Holy Week The Vatican cancels the Pope's presence at the Via Crucis at the last minute to "preserve his health"
The Vatican confirmed the presence of
Pope Francis
at the
Holy Saturday Vigil mass
, which will be celebrated at 7:30 p.m. in
St. Peter
's Basilica , after this Friday he resigned at the last minute to preside over the
Via Crucis
in the Colosseum in Rome. to "protect their health" in view of the upcoming Holy Week rites.
A few minutes before the start of the Via Crucis, the Vatican press office reported that "
to safeguard
health before tomorrow's vigil and the Holy Mass on Easter Sunday", Francis would follow the Via Crucis of the Colosseum from his residence, the Santa Marta House.
Meanwhile, this Saturday the press office confirmed the presence of the Pope at the Vigil,
one of the longest ceremonies, lasting almost 3 hours
, in the Catholic tradition.
This Friday, everything was prepared, the security device along the road from the Vatican, the organization prepared to receive the Pope in the Colosseum and 25,000 faithful present, as well as the white armchair in the box installed on the Palatin Hill.
Last year, Francis, who had just left the hospital due to bronchitis, did not go to the Colosseum on the recommendation of the doctors, and this was surely the case on this occasion as well, after the two-hour celebration of the Passion of the Lord on the afternoon of yesterday and the cold and humidity in the Roman night.
For the moment,
the Sunday Resurrection Mass and Easter message and the
urbi et orbi
blessing
from the central loggia of the Vatican basilica are also confirmed.
Francis,
87
, who has suffered from respiratory problems in recent times, presided, apparently without problems, at the Holy Thursday mass in a women's prison in Rome and this Friday at the ceremony of the passion of Christ in St. Peter's Basilica. .