Pope to celebrate Easter Mass

Ignoring doctors' advice that he should rest, the 80-year-old pope insisted on presiding over all of the Easter ceremonies, including a solemn three-hour Easter Vigil on Saturday evening.

During Sunday's Mass, he was expected to deliver his traditional Urbi et Orbi message to the city and the world in 60 languages.

The increasingly frail pope had also chosen to defy doctors on Friday, when he went ahead with shouldering the cross during the traditional Good Friday procession around Rome's ancient centre.

For the first time in 22 years, the pope did not attempt to walk along the entire Via Crucis (Way of the Cross), which commemorates the 14 Stations of the Cross from the time Jesus is condemned to die until his burial.

Instead, the pope knelt down, observed most of the ritual from a vantage point on the Palatine Hill, and joined in its final two stages.

Papal health concerns have commanded the media's attention during the gruelling Easter celebrations.

The symptoms of Parkinson's disease and a 1994 hip replacement are among the factors thought to be wearing down the former skier and goalkeeper who was once described as "God's Athlete".

The pope, who usually stands with the aid of a cane and has difficulty walking, now uses a mobile platform to move the length of St. Peter's nave, such as during the blessing of the oils ceremony on Thursday.

(bb/dpa)