Pope Francis presides over the Easter Vigil

ROME (AP).—Pope Francis presided over the somber service of the Easter Vigil on Saturday night after he made a last-minute decision the day before not to attend the Good Friday procession at the Colosseum for reasons of health.

Francis entered the dark and silent St. Peter’s Basilica, took his chair and said an opening prayer. With a somewhat congested voice he blessed an Easter candle with the flame of which others were lit until the entire basilica was illuminated.

The evening service commemorates the resurrection of Jesus and includes the sacrament of baptism for eight adult converts. The Vatican had said Francis did not attend the Good Friday procession to ensure his participation in the two-hour Saturday night service and the Easter Sunday mass.

Francisco, 87, who had part of his lung removed in his youth, has suffered breathing problems throughout the winter that make it difficult for him to speak for long.

He has canceled some hearings and frequently asks a collaborator to read some of his speeches. But he did not deliver the Palm Sunday homily and on Friday he decided at the last minute to remain in his chambers rather than preside over the Via Crucis procession at the Colosseum that reenacts the crucifixion.

The Vatican said in a brief statement that the decision was made to “protect his health” in view of Saturday’s service and his Sunday obligations, which require even greater effort. The pope is due to celebrate a morning Easter mass in St. Peter’s Square and deliver his Urbi et Orbi (to Rome and the world) address in which he prays for an end to global crises.

Although he did not attend the Good Friday procession last year because he was recovering from bronchitis, his sudden absence this year caused concern. His chair was on the podium and his collaborators were preparing his arrival when the Vatican announced five minutes before the officially scheduled time that he would not attend.

In addition to his respiratory problems, a part of his large intestine was removed in 2021 and last year he was hospitalized twice, once for surgery for diverticulitis. For almost two years he has been walking with a cane or using a wheelchair due to knee ligament problems.

In his recently published memoir “Life: La mia storia nella storia,” (Life: my story in history), Francisco says that he does not suffer from health problems that force him to resign and that he still has “many projects to carry out.”