As per the Holy See, Pope Francis observed the customary Good Friday Way of the Cross procession from his Vatican residence.

Despite his recent hospitalization for bronchitis, the 86-year-old pontiff intended to carry out his rigorous Holy Week schedule, which included attending various events.

However, due to unseasonably cold temperatures in Rome, Francis was compelled to alter his plans and follow the Way of the Cross meditations from home.

The Holy See press office announced on Friday afternoon that the Pope would watch the procession from his residence, Casa Santa Marta, owing to the intense cold.

Meteorologists have predicted that temperatures in Rome would drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday night, with a possibility of thunderstorms.

Typically, the Holy Week procession attracts tens of thousands of Catholics, who take turns carrying a cross while reciting prayers.

Francis, who usually watches the ceremony from a vantage point overlooking the Colosseum and concludes the procession with a blessing and remarks, marked the occasion this year with an early evening prayer service at St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Argentinian-born Pope, who has been experiencing sciatica and knee problems, employed a wheelchair to move inside the basilica.

On Holy Thursday, he conducted a two-hour-long mass at St. Peter’s Basilica before proceeding to a juvenile detention center, where he washed the feet of twelve residents as a symbol of humility, replicating the action performed by Jesus on his 12 apostles during their last supper together.

A week earlier, after being discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic, Francis appeared to be in good spirits, even joking with reporters and well-wishers that he was still alive.

On Palm Sunday, he gave a 15-minute homily to an audience of approximately 60,000 people at St. Peter’s Square.