Pope to watch Way of the Cross procession from Vatican residence due to ‘intense cold’

Pope Francis watched the traditional Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday from his Vatican home, according to the Holy See.

The 86-year-old pontiff, who spent three days in a hospital in Rome last week being treated for bronchitis, was planning to carry out his intense Holy Week schedule, which included attending the Way of the Cross, a late-night procession at the Colosseum on Friday, an Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night, as well as Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.

However, unseasonably cold temperatures in Rome forced Francis to alter his Friday schedule, and he will now follow the meditations for the Way of the Cross from home.

“Due to the intense cold of these days Pope Francis will follow tonight’s Way of the Cross from Casa Santa Marta,” his residence in the Vatican, the Holy See press office said in a news release early Friday afternoon.

Temperatures in Rome are expected to dip below 50 degrees Friday night, and thunderstorms are possible, meteorologists said.

The traditional Holy Week procession normally attracts tens of thousands of Catholics. Participants take turns carrying a cross, while prayers are recited.

Francis typically watches the celebration, which starts just after 9 p.m., local time, from a rise overlooking the Colosseum. He then ends the procession with remarks and a blessing.

The Argentinian-born pope did mark the date with an early evening prayer service at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Francis, who suffers from sciatica and has recently complained about problems with his right knee, used a wheelchair to move inside the basilica.

On Holy Thursday, he presided over a two-hour-long mass at St. Peter’s Basilica before heading to a juvenile prison, where he washed the feet of a dozen of its residents in a ritual that symbolizes humility and recalls the same action Jesus performed on his 12 apostles at their last supper together.

A week earlier, after he was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic, Francis appeared to be in good spirits, even joking with reporters and well-wishers saying he was “still alive.”

Three days later, on Palm Sunday, he delivered a 15-minute homily at St. Peter’s Square to a crowd of about 60,000 people.

With News Wire Services