Pope Francis is going without supplemental oxygen for longer periods and is continuing therapy to recover his voice and physical strength, the Vatican press office said yesterday, and is increasing the number of private meetings he is holding with the heads of Vatican offices. Source: CNS.
The press office did not say if Pope Francis would attend any of the Holy Week liturgies this week, but it announced the names of the cardinals delegated by the Pope to preside over the chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday and the Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum that night.
The Pope asked Italian Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, retired president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, to lead the morning chrism Mass on Thursday.
While the parish of St Peter’s Basilica has its own Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Pope usually celebrates the evening Mass with the foot-washing rite “privately” at a prison or detention facility; the press office said it had no information about what the Pope would do this year.
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, was chosen by the Pope to lead the Good Friday liturgy in St Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican’s long custom is that the preacher of the papal household, now Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini, preaches at the liturgy.
Pope Francis asked Cardinal Baldassare Reina, his vicar for the Diocese of Rome, to lead the Via Crucis at the Colosseum that night. Pope Francis prepared the text of the meditations, the press office said.
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Despite improved health, pope picks cardinals to lead Holy Week liturgies (By Cindy Wooden, CNS)
