Pope Francis will not lead New Year's Eve and New Year's Day services because of a flare up of his sciatica condition, which produces pain in his right leg, the Vatican said on Thursday.
It was the first time in years that Francis, who turned 84 this month, has had to skip a papal event for health reasons.
A year-end vespers service that the pope was to lead on Thursday afternoon will be led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and the Friday Mass will be said by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State.
The Vatican said the pope would lead his noon prayer on Friday as scheduled.
The pope suffers from sciatica, a condition that causes pain that radiates from the lower back along the sciatic nerve to the lower part of the body.
He can sometimes be seen walking with difficulty because of the pain and receives regular physical therapy because of the condition.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
"Democracy Not In Good Health": Pope Francis' Warning To "Populists" As BJP Slams Post On PM-Pope, Kerala Congress's Apology, With A Retort At G7 Summit, PM And Pope Share Warm Embrace, Then An India Invite Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests Joe Biden Is The Best Person To Take On Trump, Says His Campaign Wife Among Two Jailed For Life For Man's Murder In Gurugram: Cops 1,100 Flights Cancelled In US As Microsoft Outage Disrupts Operations Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.