Vatican City:

Pope Francis attended an Easter vigil at the Vatican on Saturday, a day after his last-minute cancellation of a large Good Friday procession once again raised questions about his health.

The 87-year-old pontiff arrived at St. Peter’s Basilica shortly before 7:30pm (1830 GMT) to preside over the Easter vigil in front of some 6,000 people from around the world.

A day after canceling his participation in the “Via Crucis” ceremony, Pope Francis, dressed in white, arrived in a wheelchair shortly before the two-hour ceremony.

The Vatican confirmed earlier in the day that he would attend.

After a light ceremony in the cathedral fell into darkness, symbolizing Christ’s transformation from death to life, Francis delivered a ten-minute homily in Italian, speaking without any undue difficulty.

He spoke out against the world’s “high walls of selfishness and indifference” and lamented that “all aspirations for peace are shattered by cruel hatred and cruel wars.”

He later baptized eight adults at the service.

Sunday’s Easter Mass and subsequent “Urbi et Orbi” blessing will be broadcast live around the world.

The Vatican said in a brief statement on Friday that “in order to preserve his health ahead of tomorrow’s vigil and Easter Sunday Mass, Pope Francis will tonight walk along the Colosseum from his official residence in Santa Marta, where he lives “The Way of the Cross”.

The last-minute decision – that the pope’s chair was already in place for the procession – and the lack of details in the statement raised doubts about his health and how long he can continue to lead the Catholic Church and its 1.3. One billion fans.

– Growing doubts –

“A fragile pope’s journey to the cross” was the headline in Italy’s La Stampa on Saturday, while the Courier newspaper spoke of “abandoning Francis”.

Vatican sources told AFP on Friday that there were “no particular concerns” about his health and that the decision to withdraw was “just a precautionary measure”.

The Argentinian Jesuit also canceled participation in the 2023 Way of the Cross event, but this was announced in advance after being hospitalized for three days with bronchitis. A few weeks later, he underwent hernia surgery.

Holy Week is the mainstay of the Catholic calendar and involves a series of rituals leading up to Easter.

The pope had participated in various events throughout the week until Friday, but he had appeared tired recently, sometimes delegating speaking roles to colleagues.

Notably, when he celebrated Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square a week ago, he did not preach a homily and instead offered a moment of silence and prayer, although he did pray before calling for peace at the end of the Mass.

Holy Week, which culminates on Easter Sunday, marking the resurrection of Christ, is an important part of the Catholic calendar, and its numerous rituals feel like a marathon for the octogenarian, who has been attending events in a wheelchair for two years.

Francis never takes a vacation and his last trip was in September to the southern French city of Marseille. In December, he canceled his appearance at the highly anticipated COP28 climate summit in Dubai.

His next visit is planned for Venice on April 28. The Vatican has not confirmed plans to visit Asian and Pacific countries this summer.

Francis has previously said he may resign if he is unable to continue in the role. This would follow the lead of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope to voluntarily abdicate since the Middle Ages.

But in a memoir published this month, Francis wrote that he had “no reasons serious enough for me to consider resigning.”

He wrote that resignation was a “remote possibility” and could only be justified in the context of “serious physical impairment.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)