Pope Benedict XVI continues first Easter celebrations

Apr 15, 2006, 15:11 GMT

Rome - Pope Benedict XVI was to continue his first Easter celebrations as head of the Catholic church with the traditional vigil in St Peter's Basilica on Saturday night.

Benedict, who turns 79 years old Sunday, is due to celebrate his first Easter mass as pope on the same day, with the traditional Easter blessing 'Urbi et Orbi' - 'to the city and the world' - which offers the absolution of all sins, according to Catholic doctrine.

Tourists and pilgrims continued to arrive in the Vatican to join the Easter celebrations.

During Saturday night's vigil, the Easter candle is traditionally lit in the porch and then carried into the basilica as a symbol for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the central tenet of Christian belief.

Accompanied by tens of thousands of people, the pope had Friday headed the Good Friday procession near the illuminated Coliseum, marking the 14 stations of Christ's suffering, with Benedict XVI carrying the cross at the first and the last station.

Besides the traditional prayers, the ceremony included meditations composed by Vicar General for Rome and Archbishop Angelo Comastri, which deplored poverty and hunger as well as the decline of family values across the world.

The German-born pontiff also reminded the congregation of the memory of his predecessor John Paul II, who had been unable to celebrate Easter last year as he was approaching his death on April 2, 2005.