ROME — Pope Francis, hospitalized recently with bronchitis, skipped the traditional Good Friday nighttime procession at the Colosseum because of chilly weather in Rome, staying instead at his home at the Vatican while thousands of faithful turned out for the torchlit event.
This Good Friday was the first time a pontiff was a no-show at the Colosseum Way of the Cross procession since 2005. Then, a weakened and ailing St. John Paul II, eight days before his death, silently watched the Way of the Cross ritual on TV at his apartment in the Apostolic Palace.
