Pope Francis led a Good Friday service commemorating the final hours of Jesus’ life as the shadow of war in Ukraine loomed over the darkest day on the Christian calendar.
Francis, 85, who has recently suffered from knee and leg pain, hobbled down the main aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica at the beginning and end of the celebration known as ‘The Passion of the Lord’.
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However, he did not throw himself onto the marble floor as he had done at the start of other similar celebrations in the past. Instead, he stood with his head bowed for a few minutes.
Later, Francis sat as a singer and a choir sang gospel verses narrating events from Jesus’ arrest to his burial.
The Good Friday celebration is one of the few events where the Pope does not preach the homily, leaving it to Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa.
“This year we celebrate Easter not to the joyful ringing of bells, but to the din of bombs and explosions not far from here in our ears,” Catalamessa said, referring to the war in Ukraine.
Cantalamessa paraphrased the biblical call to peace to “turn your swords into plowshares and your spears into pruning shears” and spoke of “rockets in factories and homes.”
On Friday evening, Francis was to lead a candlelit procession “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) at the Colosseum in Rome.
That year, the Vatican’s decision to allow Ukrainians and Russians to participate in part of the procession caused friction with Ukrainian Catholic leaders, who have called for a review.
On Saturday evening, Francis will lead the Easter Vigil service in the basilica.
On Easter Sunday, the most important day of the Christian liturgical calendar, he will say Mass in St. Peter’s Square and then deliver his biannual message and blessing “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world).