The Catholic Church begins the busiest week of the year on Sunday (13), with countdown to Easter, while Pope Francis remains without appearances to the public, after being hospitalized by treating double pneumonia for more than a month, it is unclear if he will participate in the celebrations.
The doctors prescribed to the 88 -year -old pontiff, two months of rest to allow his body to recover completely, which means he can spend much or the entire Holy Week without appearing to the public.
“This will certainly be a very different Holy Week for the Pope and the Catholic faithful,” said Anna Rowlands, Catholic academic at Durham University in England.
“The Pope’s almost silence… could intensify the meaning of parts of the week to many,” she said.
Holy Week marks the moment when Christians resemble the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Normally, Francis would preside at least eight Vatican ceremonies during Holy Week, culminating in Easter Sunday Mass, when tens of thousands of people gather in St. Peter’s Square to celebrate the day they believe that Jesus was risen from the dead.
Vatican authorities are not yet sure if the pontiff, who has come close to death at the hospital, may try to make brief apparitions or participate in some of the events through a video link.
Reverend Bruce Morrill, a Jesuit and academic Father of the University of Vanderbilt in the United States, said that the Pope’s “perseverance and transparency in his illness brings a new pungency” to the holiday.
“It may be that people get strength and inspiration of a different type with the Pope’s limited presence in Holy Week this year’s services,” he said.
Francisco, a pontiff since 2013, appeared in public only once since he was discharged on March 23, after a 38 -day stay at the hospital, making a brief surprise appearance to greet Vatican crowds on April 6.
The Pope only spent a few minutes in St. Peter’s Square and spoke only a few words with a fragile voice.
His possible participation in events during Holy Week will be determined event per event, said the Vatican press office on Tuesday (8).
This content was originally published in Vatican does not confirm Papa Francisco’s presence on Easter celebrations on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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