Pope delegates cardinals to lead Holy Week liturgies

The director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni said it had not yet been decided who will celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday and the Easter Sunday Mass.

Pope Francis delegated three cardinals to celebrate the Vatican’s Maundy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies while his health continues to improve.

The 88-year-old, recovering from his prolonged case of double pneumonia, has delegated the retired Italian Cardinal Domenico Calcagno to celebrate the Chrism Mass in St Peter’s on the morning of Maundy Thursday.

Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, will lead the Liturgy of the Passion in the basilica on the afternoon of Good Friday, and the same evening, the vicar general of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, will preside over the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum with meditations written by Francis.

Speaking on Tuesday, the director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni said it had not yet been decided who will celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday and the Easter Sunday Mass.

It remained unclear how much Pope Francis will participate in Holy Week and Easter liturgies, after he made a surprise appearance in St Peter’s Square during Palm Sunday Mass on 13 April.

For the first time since his 39-day hospitalisation, the Pope was not wearing nasal canula to support his breathing during his brief appearance at the end of the Mass.

According to Bruni, Francis is now able to go for longer periods without supplemental oxygen, except as needed overnight. The Pope’s mobility and voice are also improving, and he is holding short work meetings to discuss Church affairs with the heads of Vatican dicasteries.

Pope Francis has no public schedule while convalescing from multiple respiratory infections that hospitalised him in February, but he has made several unexpected appearances in the last week, including a visit to pray before his favoruite Marian icon Salus Populi Romani at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore on 12 April.

The Pope also surprised tourists and pilgrims in St Peter’s on 10 April when he was wheeled into the basilica wearing a white undershirt and black trousers while draped in a blanket, instead of being dressed in his white cassock and zucchetto.

Just over three weeks since his release from hospital, the appearances mark the Pope’s gradual resumption of public life even while his convalescence is expected to last several more weeks.

Pope Francis greets Palm Sunday crowds in St Peter’s Square

View from Rome

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