The Vatican has published the official calendar of liturgical celebrations planned for Holy Week, but it has not clarified whether Pope Francis will preside.
The pontiff was discharged on Sunday after spending 38 days in the hospital with double pneumonia, but doctors have prescribed complete rest for at least two months. It is expected that he will be able to resume his full schedule by the end of May.
The Holy See Press Office indicated that it will be necessary to monitor “the improvement of the pope’s health in the coming weeks to assess his possible presence, and under what conditions, at the Holy Week rites.”
Archbishop Diego Ravelli, papal master of ceremonies, announced the planned Holy Week schedule, which will begin on Palm Sunday, April 13, with Mass in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. local time, commemorating Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
On Thursday, April 17, the chrism Mass is scheduled in St. Peter’s Basilica at 9:30 a.m., during which the holy oils will be blessed and priests will renew their priestly vows. In previous years, Pope Francis has traveled from the Vatican to a prison in Rome to commemorate the Lord’s Supper, in remembrance of the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist, during which he would wash the feet of 12 people.
The following day, Good Friday, the Catholic Church celebrates the passion of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica at 5 p.m. In previous years, Pope Francis has participated in the services at St. Peter’s Basilica, but the homily has typically been given by the preacher of the papal household, currently Franciscan Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini. This is the only day of the year on which there is no consecration as a sign of mourning for the passion of Jesus.
At 9:15 p.m., the traditional Way of the Cross will take place in Rome’s Colosseum, where the 14 stations of the Passion are meditated upon, from Jesus’ condemnation to death to his burial, in one of the most widely followed ceremonies by the faithful in Rome. Last year, the Holy Father, suffering from bronchitis, was unable to attend this event, whose tradition reflects the persecution suffered by early Christians under the Roman Empire.
On Holy Saturday, April 19, the Easter Vigil will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica. In the past, St. John Paul II usually celebrated the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday in the Vatican around 10 p.m., but in the final years of his pontificate, it began to be celebrated a few hours earlier. This year, the ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica with the brief ceremony of lighting the fire and blessing the paschal candle.
The following day, Easter Sunday, April 20, the Catholic Church will celebrate the day of the Lord’s resurrection with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square at 10:30 a.m. Following this, the solemn urbi et orbi blessing will be imparted to the city of Rome and the entire world.
One week after Easter, on the second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, a special Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Square at 10:30 a.m. During this ceremony, the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the young Italian millennial known as the “cyber apostle of the Eucharist,” is scheduled to take place.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
