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Pope to take part in Corpus Christi Mass, procession (Vatican Press Office)

The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff has announced that Pope Francis will take part in Mass, a Eucharistic procession, and Benediction on the feast of Corpus Christi. The Pontiff was absent from Corpus Christi Mass in 2022 (because of knee pain) and 2023 (because of hernia surgery).

The procession will begin at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, where the Mass will take place, and conclude at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major.

As has become customary in this pontificate, the Pope will observe Corpus Christi on June 2—the Sunday to which it is transferred in many nations—rather than on the Thursday on which it falls on the General Roman Calendar.

From 2013 to 2017, Pope Francis, following St. John Paul II’s custom, celebrated Corpus Christi Mass at the Lateran Basilica. In the intervening years, he commemorated Corpus Christi elsewhere.