Vatican says cardinals to celebrate Holy Week liturgies as Pope Francis' health improves
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Pope Francis kisses the foot of one of the 12 women whose feet he washed at the Rebibbia Women's Prison in Rome on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Apr 15, 2025 / 10:38 am (CNA).For Holy Week, Pope Francis has delegated three cardinals to celebrate the Vatican's Holy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies as the state of the pontiff's health continues to steadily improve, the director of the Holy See Press Office said Tuesday.The 88-year-old pope, who is recovering from a prolonged case of double pneumonia, has delegated Italian Cardinal Domenico Calcagno to celebrate the chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on the morning of Holy Thursday.Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, will lead the Passion service in the Vatican basilica on the afternoon of Good Friday, and the same evening, the vicar general of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, will preside over the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum with medita...
Pope Francis kisses the foot of one of the 12 women whose feet he washed at the Rebibbia Women's Prison in Rome on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Apr 15, 2025 / 10:38 am (CNA).
For Holy Week, Pope Francis has delegated three cardinals to celebrate the Vatican's Holy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies as the state of the pontiff's health continues to steadily improve, the director of the Holy See Press Office said Tuesday.
The 88-year-old pope, who is recovering from a prolonged case of double pneumonia, has delegated Italian Cardinal Domenico Calcagno to celebrate the chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on the morning of Holy Thursday.
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, will lead the Passion service in the Vatican basilica on the afternoon of Good Friday, and the same evening, the vicar general of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, will preside over the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum with meditations written by Francis.
It has not yet been decided who will celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening and the Easter Sunday Mass, Holy See spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Tuesday.
How much Pope Francis will participate in Holy Week and Easter liturgies at the Vatican is also unclear after the 88-year-old pontiff made a surprise appearance in St. Peter's Square during Palm Sunday Mass on April 13.
For the first time since his 39-day hospitalization earlier this year, the pope was not wearing nasal tubes for breathing help during his brief appearance at the end of the public Mass.
According to Bruni, Francis is now able to go for longer periods without supplemental oxygen, except as needed at night. The pontiff's mobility and voice are also improving, and he is holding short work meetings to discuss important Church business with the heads of Vatican dicasteries.
Pope Francis has no public schedule while convalescing from multiple respiratory infections that landed him in the hospital in February, but he has made several unexpected appearances in the last week, including a visit to pray before his favorite Marian icon, "Salus Populi Romani," at the Basilica of St. Mary Major on April 12.
The pope also surprised tourists and pilgrims in St. Peter's Basilica on April 10 when he was wheeled into the Vatican basilica wearing a white undershirt and black pants while draped in a blanket instead of being dressed in his usual white cassock and zucchetto.
Now just over three weeks since his release from hospital, the appearances mark the pope's gradual resumption of public life during a convalescence expected to last several more weeks.
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Pope Leo XIV shares lunch with people in need at the Vatican on November 16, 2025. / Daniel IbáñezVatican City, Nov 16, 2025 / 11:15 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV had lunch on Sunday with more than 1,300 people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, gathering with them in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall for a festive meal marking the World Day of the Poor.The hall was transformed into a vast dining room for the occasion. The event was organized by the Congregation of the Mission on behalf of Vincentian missionaries worldwide, who this year celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of their congregation and of the Daughters of Charity. Volunteers served lasagna, breaded chicken with potatoes, and the traditional Italian dessert babà.As on similar occasions in past years, the Vatican, through the papal almoner Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, invited a group of transgender people from the Roman seaside town of Torvaianica. Father Andrea Conocchia, a parish priest in Torvaianica, to...
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Neuroscientist Kathlyn Gan says research shows music can help counter the mental decline that accompanies aging. / Credit: Terry O'NeillToronto, Canada, Nov 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Sixteen hundred years ago, St. Augustine was credited with saying, "He who sings, prays twice." Today, scientific research shows that he who sings, performs, or listens to music also enriches and strengthens his brain, according to Catholic neuroscientist Kathlyn Gan.Not only that, but sacred music may produce even more beneficial effects.Gan, who leads a research laboratory at the University of Toronto, delivered the uplifting news to about 50 people at an Oct. 30 talk at St. Francis de Sales in Burnaby, Ontario.In her hourlong presentation "The Neuroscience of Sacred Music," Gan, a former choir director and accompanist, described how research showing that music can be part of a healthy lifestyle that helps counter the mental decline that accompanies aging.Music can also help prevent the onset of ...
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Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on November 16, 2025. / Daniel IbáñezVatican City, Nov 16, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).Celebrating Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor on the Ninth World Day of the Poor, Pope Leo XIV urged Christians not to retreat into a closed or "religious" world of their own, but to help make human society "a space of fraternity and dignity for all, without exception."Presiding in St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday, the pope reflected on the "day of the Lord" and the upheavals of history, saying that Christ's promise remains secure even amid war, violence, and deep social wounds.Quoting the prophet Malachi, he described the "day of the Lord" as the dawn of a new era in which "the hopes of the poor and the humble will receive a final and definitive answer from the Lord," and recalled that Jesus himself is the "sun of righteousness" who comes close to every person. In the Gospel, he said, Christ assures his disciples that "Not a hai...
