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POPE FRANCIS SKIPPED traditional Good Friday processions at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy last night in order to “conserve his health” ahead of other Easter services this weekend.
Francis was expected to preside over the Way of the Cross procession, which re-enacts Christ’s Passion and crucifixion, and composed the meditations that are read aloud at each station.
But just as the event was about to begin, the Vatican announced that Francis was following the event from his apartment in the city instead.
“To conserve his health in view of the vigil tomorrow and Mass on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis will follow the Via Crucis at the Colosseum this evening from the Casa Santa Marta,” a statement from the press office said.
The 87-year-old Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been battling what he and the Vatican have described as a case of the flu, bronchitis or a cold all winter long.
For the last several weeks he has occasionally asked an aide to read aloud his speeches and skipped his Palm Sunday homily altogether.
The decision to not attend the Good Friday procession appeared to be very last-minute: Francis’ chair was in place on the platform where he was to preside over the rite.
His closest aide, Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, was on hand and moved the television screen around on the platform so Francis would have a better view of what was going on inside the Colosseum itself.
But at 9.10pm, five minutes before the official start of the procession, the Vatican press office announced that he would not be taking part. The chair was quickly taken away.
The sudden announcement recalled Francis’ last-minute decision on Palm Sunday, when the Vatican issued the Pope’s homily in advance to journalists, and his aide got up to give him his glasses to read it, when Francis made clear he was skipping it.
It is the first time he had skipped the traditional, evocative event in his 11-year papacy, and recalled the Good Friday that St John Paul II famously watched from the Apostolic Palace just before he died in 2005.
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Balloon violence has been observed in children as young as four
It’s an underlying problem in modern society..and its gonna burst
@Liam Meade: in the long term they only let themselves down
You call that news
@Michael Curran: I’m suprised it’s being reported as it shows support for Trump. Sorry this is a no no
@Michael Curran: should have mentioned LSU won 46-41
@Tony Stack: first time Bama lost at home in 4 years
Journal desperate for a Trump story i see.
Great to see it destroyed
@Punters Pal: punctured*
@Punters Pal:
‘He’ll be back’ … in my best Schwarzenegger voice
@Punters Pal: Should have burned it.
At this point even the Trump baby would win the presidential election the Democrats have failed miserably in finding someone to challenge the Republican.
@Bass demon: are you living in the real world or in your fantasy a Trump world?
@Gus Sheridan: hes probably right. The only chance they have is Bernie, but he wont be the runner against Trump.
American society is so polarised now. Part of a long process but Trump has really added to that. Obama before him was actually when the gloves came off. Many Americans didn’t view him as their president and the criticism was caustic. I don’t how they walk back at this stage as both sides are talking past each other.
@lambda sensor:
Sorry but the GOP has take the blame for a vast majority of the toxic politics. Every time we got to a low they went lower.
WMDs in Iraq
Obstruction of anything Obama did
Ben Gazi investigations
Trump election
Supporting Trumps actions
Etc….
Remember Obama tried to work with the initials but OConnell was deep into making him one term and the country had to suffer for that
@lambda sensor: The problem is the political system that demands exclusive membership to either one. It has become such an important and tribal aspect of peoples identities. Instead of respecting other American political points of view, they are identifying it as a point of difference and disagreement.
This is exacerbated by the way politics operates, instead of a political party deciding on an internally elected leader, a leader is picked by the public and the party works around them.
These are definitely contributing factors to the current polarisation.
Alabama is the deep south where trump’s biggest supporters are what did they expect.would be like blowing up a mock balloon of Barack Obama and going to Detroit.
@dick dastardly: I agree. Loved the idea of having it there though.
@dick dastardly:
They are allowed to do it and 37% of Alabama didn’t vote for him…
Should 37% of the people remain silent because they are the minority?
@DK Innovation: Did you google that
I don’t wanna burst yer balloon but….
@Liam Meade: I’m feeling deflated.
It’s Alabama though. They love their republican heritage there.
And their sisters.
Trump for 2020. Conservativeism is on the rise all over the world . Praise God. Snowflakes melting .
State of the world , Thousands of people killed in USA wars and the news is a trump balloon got slashed ! What media brain drain .
An orange man with really tiny hands was seen scurrying away from the nearby grassy knoll…
Just a load of hot air
It was a beautiful balloon, a perfect balloon
If only the headline could delete the words inflatable, baby, balloon, and deflated…now the rest that would be some wonderful news headline worth reading about.
@RobPup: slightly unhinged remark
@Vote4Pedro: unhinged like your president?
@RobPup: unhinged like a schiz
@Declan Edward: ah, like your president so.
@Declan Edward: and good job using hateful, insulting and derrogatory spit-words like “schiz”. Schizophrenia is a very serious mental health condition which isn’t fun for those who suffer it or their families. Even in your speech you resemble your beloved president full of hate the moment someone says anything about your supremo.
@RobPup: your so edgy
@RobPup: isn’t it hateful to wish that someone is stabbed?
My two year old popped a balloon yesterday. Cant get over it.
Stabbed it in the back… Are we sure he was a Trump supporter??
Where are the video’s of this atrocity??
On the plus side, moving away from guns and reverting to knives is a step in the right direction.
R.I.P
Arent they all dumb southerners or is that just jeff sessions?
@Simon O Flaherty: the region has the poorest literacy scores in the USA. Mississippi being no 1. No wonder there is so much support for that colossally ignorant man- child
@Freddie Rincon: the type of people who think that not reading makes you smart!
@Freddie Rincon: wonder if you would say the same about the ‘uneducated’ Catholic Irish when they first got to vote in this country?
He has to go to the rednecks for some love. Sad!
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