Because of a painful arthritic right knee, he went to the confessional on a mobile stand. The faithful who were present began to applaud.
During one hour, the Pope heard the confessions of five women and four men of various nationalities. The last ones to go to confession were a married couple with a baby. At the end, the Holy Father kissed the baby and patted the smiling mother.
Eventually, John Paul II left St. Peter´s using the mobile stand again, after first going around the basilica amid the applause of the faithful, many of whom stretched out their hands to him. He paid special attention to a small group of Poles who were calling out his name.
The Holy Father began the custom of confessing pilgrims on Good Friday in 1980. Since then, he has not missed a year, emphasizing to Catholics the importance of the sacrament of reconciliation. In his Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday, he called for a rediscovery of this sacrament.
