Pope Francis is due to preside over Easter mass on Sunday and give his “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, amid concerns over the failing health of the 87-year-old pontiff. A highlight of the Catholic liturgical calendar, the ceremony must begin at 10:00 a.m. (08:00 GMT) and be broadcast live around the world to the attention of some 1.3 billion faithful.
On Friday, the Argentine pope revived speculation about his state of health after the last-minute cancellation of his participation in the traditional Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. The Vatican had specified that this measure had been taken “to preserve his health in view of the vigil” on Saturday “and the mass on Easter Sunday”. In fact, Francis was able to officiate normally on Saturday without showing fatigue despite the two and a half hours of solemn celebration in the presence of 6,000 faithful. In particular, he delivered a ten-minute homily in Italian, without particular difficulty.
On this occasion, he spoke out against the “stones of death”, “the walls of selfishness and indifference” and “all aspirations for peace shattered by the cruelty of hatred and the ferocity of the war”. After the ceremony, he took the time to go back and forth in the aisle of the basilica in a wheelchair, smiling, greeting and energetically blessing the faithful massed against the barriers, many of whom extended their hands to him or photographed him with their smartphones. , in a warm atmosphere. His presence was confirmed by the Vatican at midday, after the cancellation the previous evening.
This cancellation – which occurred a few moments before the start of the ceremony, forcing the organizers to hastily remove the papal chair – and the laconic communication from the Vatican helped to revive questions about the failing health of Jorge Bergoglio. The Argentine Jesuit had already canceled his participation in the “Via Crucis” in 2023, but this decision followed a three-day hospitalization for bronchitis and had been communicated in advance.
A marathon
A central pillar of the Catholic calendar, Holy Week, which involves numerous ceremonies ending with Easter, can be compared to a marathon for an octogenarian who has been traveling in a wheelchair for two years. Francis has recently appeared tired and has been forced on several occasions to delegate the reading of his speeches, citing bronchitis, for which he had undergone examinations in a Rome hospital in late February.
He had also abandoned the reading of his Palm Sunday homily, without explanation. Despite a major abdominal operation in 2023, Francis, who never takes vacation, continues to submit to a hectic pace at the Vatican, where he can receive around ten people in a morning.
His age and precarious health, however, seem to be catching up with him: he has not traveled since his visit to Marseille (south of France) in September and had to cancel his trip to Dubai for COP28 in December due to bronchitis. Francis has always left “the door open” to a possible renunciation, in line with his predecessor Benedict XVI. But in an autobiography published in mid-March, he reiterated that he had no “serious reason” to give up his office, a “remote hypothesis” which would only be justified in the event of a “serious physical impediment”.