VATICAN Town, April 16 (Reuters) – Pope Francis condemned the cruelty of the war in Ukraine on Saturday at an Easter vigil Mass he attended but at which he did not preside, presumably due to the fact of leg agony that has pressured him to curtail actions.
The Mass was attended by Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, who was detained by Russian forces last month and later on freed in a prisoner trade. read more
Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re replaced the pope as the primary celebrant at the provider, which involved a procession in in close proximity to-overall darkness up the central nave of Christendom’s major church.
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The pope sat at the entrance of Saint Peter’s Basilica in a large white chair on the aspect, appeared alert and stood during the reading through of the gospel.
He read his homily while sitting but in his normal voice and later on rose to baptize seven grownup converts to Catholicism.
The pope departed from his prepared textual content to admit the presence of Fedorov, his family members and a few Ukrainian parliamentarians sitting down in the entrance.
He spoke of the “darkness of war, of cruelty”.
“All of us pray for you and with you. We pray for the reason that there is so a great deal struggling. We can only give you our company, our prayers and say to you ‘courage, we accompany you,'” Francis stated.
He ended by expressing “Christ is risen” in Ukrainian.
Pope Francis speaks as he attends the Easter Vigil in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, April 16, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
The Vatican explained Francis fulfilled privately with the Ukrainian delegation prior to the Mass.
Presiding at the Mass, which was attended by 5,500 men and women, would have needed extensive periods of standing for the duration of the chanting and gospel readings, genuflecting at the altar.
The 85-year-outdated pope suffers from sciatica, which will cause ache in one particular leg and results in a pronounced limp. Lately Francis also has experienced a flare up of pain in his suitable knee.
The problem seems to come and go.
A programme issued by the Vatican on Friday listed the pope as chief celebrant at the Saturday evening company. The Vatican gave no formal cause for the improve.
On Friday afternoon, the pope was very well adequate to stroll the complete aisle the two at the get started and the stop of a Good Friday company in the basilica but he did not prostrate himself on the flooring as he usually does during that company.
He had to curtail some of his movements in the course of a vacation to Malta at the get started of April and also had to question a cardinal to stand in for him at a Mass in December.
The Holy 7 days actions, which culminate on Sunday, mark the to start with time given that 2019 that the public has been permitted to attend pursuing two years of COVID-19 limitations.
On Easter Sunday, the most vital day in the Christian liturgical calendar, he is because of to say Mass in St. Peter’s Square and then provide his 2 times-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the planet) concept and blessing.
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Reporting by Philip Pullella Enhancing by Christina Fincher and Daniel Wallis
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