Pope leads Easter mass

The Pope was there for the three-hour vigil

Pope John Paul II, the ailing head of the Roman Catholic Church, has celebrated the Easter midnight mass amid mounting concern for his health.

The 81-year-old pontiff spent most of the vigil in St Peter's Basilica seated in a chair.

Because of little precautions we have taken here and there, the Holy Father can celebrate Mass

Archbishop Piero Marini

Workers at the Vatican had installed a specially designed altar so that the Pope would not need to climb steps for the vigil, the climax of the holiest week in the Catholic calendar.

Plagued by Parkinson's disease and arthritis, he has insisted on presiding at the Easter ceremonies and is due to deliver his traditional address to the city of Rome and the world on Sunday morning.

During the service, he spoke and chanted in a firm voice, at times closing his eyes and bending his head forward.

He baptised as Catholics nine people from Albania, Japan, Poland, the Democratic Republic of Congo, China and Italy.

But many of the prayers at the service were read by Vatican cardinals in his place.

In his "Urbi et Orbi" address, the Pope is expected to refer to the growing violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Wheelchair beckons

Archbishop Piero Marini, a close aide to the pontiff, said the Pope's condition had improved over Holy Week but he has been unable to walk unaided.

Concerns had grown for his health when he sat out Palm Sunday Mass for the first time in his 23-year pontificate.

I sincerely wish the Lord may save and fortify you, multiplying your powers for many blissful years

Aleksiy II
head of Russian Orthodox Church

Nor was he able to participate actively in a traditional feet-washing ceremony on Thursday or carry a cross during Good Friday's Stations of the Cross.

In a rare message of support, the head of Russia's Orthodox Church, Aleksiy II, has put aside his church's long-running feud with Rome to send the Pope an "Easter kiss" and best wishes "for many blissful years".

The Italian press is openly speculating that the Pope may shortly have to go about in a wheelchair most of the time.

A custom-built model has already been given to him by a manufacturer in northern Italy.

His young daughter had seen the Pope struggling to walk on television and convinced her father to build him a top-of-the-line white wheelchair with automatic controls.