Pope Francis presides over Easter vigil and reassures about his condition
In front of 6,000 faithful, Pope Francis presided over the Easter vigil in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on Saturday March 30. A long celebration where the sovereign pontiff showed reassuring signs about his state of health.
Pope Francis leaves St. Peter's Basilica at the end of the Easter Vigil, March 30, 2023. REUTERS - Yara Nardi
By: RFI Follow
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With our correspondent in Rome,
Éric Sénanque
For nearly two and a half hours, the Pope presided over this vigil during which the Vatican basilica passed from darkness to light, symbolizing the resurrection of Christ. The 87-year-old pontiff reassured about his health, having
not appeared
at the Colosseum the day before during the Stations of the Cross.
The pope delivered his homily without apparent embarrassment, having given up speaking it a week earlier, during Palm Sunday Mass.
During this Easter vigil, Francis even took the time to baptize six adults, from three continents. A ceremony which ended with a smile, going up the nave of Saint Peter's Basilica in a wheelchair, to greet and bless the faithful amid their acclamations.
Pope Francis' Easter marathon ends this Sunday morning with the Easter Mass that he will preside over in Saint Peter's Square where tens of thousands of people are expected. A celebration which will be followed by its traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, “to the city and to the world”, a message of peace awaited by more than a billion Catholics.
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