Pope Francis Faces Strenuous Week Amid Health Issues

Pope Francis is expected to preside over the Vatican's packed Easter celebrations this week after fending off ongoing questions about his capacity to continue on as the pontiff amid a bout of poor health.

The leader of the Catholic church is set to lead a number of services to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to a Vatican itinerary for the holiday period, starting with a mass on Thursday morning.

He is due to preside over two other events on Friday, another on Saturday, and a further two on Sunday—but illness could prevent him from participating fully in the religious ceremonies.

The occasions will come after the pope, 87, opted to skip reading a homily at the last minute at a Palm Sunday Mass held in St. Peter's Square—something seen as quite unusual given the significance of the Easter celebrations to Catholics.

The Vatican gave no explanation for why he chose not to read his religious commentary, Reuters reported. He went on to deliver a weekly message and blessings and was later driven around the crowds gathered in the central square seemingly without physical difficulty.

Newsweek reached out to the Vatican via email for comment on Monday.

At the start of March, the pontiff required an aide to read two speeches he was supposed to give as he was suffering from bronchitis. Prior to that, on February 24, he canceled some of his engagements because of what the Vatican described as a mild flu that had later seen him taken to hospital for tests.

Pope Francis's battles with respiratory issues appear to be an ongoing issue. He was forced to cancel a planned visit to the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in December due to a lung inflammation and was treated in hospital for bronchitis in March last year.

He has also had surgery in recent years on his colon and a hernia in his abdomen, as well as suffering an ongoing issue with his knee that has affected his mobility at times.

However, the Catholic leader has dismissed the notion of resigning the papacy like his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who became the first to do so in nearly 600 years aged 85.

Writing in recently published excerpts of his upcoming autobiography, Pope Francis said that he saw the role as "ad vitam [for life] and therefore I don't see any conditions for renunciation."

He noted that he had already signed a letter of resignation in the case "a serious physical impediment occurred," but wrote that this was "a distant hypothesis" as "I don't have reasons serious enough to make me think about giving up."

Pope Francis has previously dismissed rumors concerning his resignation after stepping back from a trip while recovering from another physical ailment.