Pope Francis, hospitalized recently with bronchitis, skipped the procession because of cold weather. It was the first time a pope was a no-show at the Colosseum Way of the Cross procession since 2005.
Pope Francis was discharged from the Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis, quipping to journalists before being driven away: "I'm still alive."
The pope will leave the hospital on Saturday, three days after he was hospitalized for respiratory problems. He was diagnosed with bronchitis. Francis will be present for Palm Sunday ceremonies.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni's second statement said that hospital tests showed Francis is suffering from a respiratory infection, but they ruled out COVID.
The leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics has steered his church leftward after more than two decades of conservative leadership. Opposition within the Vatican is fierce.
Pope Francis celebrated Mass before tens of thousands of people, to close out an unusual mission by Christian religious leaders to nudge forward the South Sudan's recovery from civil war.
While there is excitement, the trip comes with a sense of urgency. Despite a peace deal, violence along political and ethnic lines has continued and millions are in the grip of famine.
His trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan will highlight the long-running conflicts in both countries and the rising importance of Africa to the future of the Catholic Church.
He stressed that lack of charity with one another is also a sin and added that the Catholic Church should work to put an end to laws in some countries that criminalize homosexuality.
Pope Francis used his Christmas message to make a plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, which he decried as "senseless." He also addressed long-running conflicts in the Middle East.
Recalling Jesus' birth in a stable, Pope Francis rebuked those "ravenous" for wealth and power at the expense of the vulnerable in a Christmas Eve homily decrying war, poverty and greedy consumerism.
Pope Francis has revealed in an interview published Sunday that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from doing his duties.
