Pope Francis is scheduled to take part in an Easter Vigil service on Saturday as planned following his last-minute cancellation from the Good Friday procession at Rome\u2019s Colosseum, the Vatican said.
\nA Vatican statement listed the evening service in St Peter\u2019s Basilica as the pope\u2019s only public engagement for the day.
\nOn Friday, the Vatican said Francis\u2019 participation at the \u201cVia Crucis\u201d (Way of the Cross) procession had been cancelled \u201cto preserve his health\u201d ahead of more Easter week events.
\nFrancis, who is 87, needs a wheelchair or a cane to move around, and has recently limited his public speaking while struggling with bronchitis and the flu.
\nEaster falls on Sunday and is the most important date in the Church\u2019s liturgical calendar, celebrating the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead.
\nDuring the day, Francis is due to celebrate Mass and deliver his twice-yearly \u201cUrbi et Orbi\u201d (to the city and world) message and blessings from the central balcony of St Peter\u2019s.
\n(Reuters)pope. Easter Vigil service, Good Friday cancellation, Pope Francis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pope Francis is scheduled to take part in an Easter Vigil service on Saturday as planned following his last-minute cancellation from the Good Friday procession at Rome\u2019s Colosseum. The Vatican said his participation in the Way of the Cross procession was cancelled to preserve his health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[233,4166,4276,3343,99,4277,210,1686,4278,1827,431,18],"class_list":["post-6196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-church","tag-easter","tag-easter-vigil-service","tag-events","tag-flu","tag-good-friday-cancellation","tag-health","tag-pope","tag-pope-francis","tag-statement","tag-vatican","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n