VATICAN CITY, April 18: Pope John Paul continued a Good Friday tradition by hearing the confessions of ordinary Catholics in St Peter’s Basilica despite concerns over his workload during Holy Week.

The 82-year-old pontiff was taken into the basilica on a wheeled platform before hearing the confessions of 10 people picked at random from the faithful inside Christendom’s largest church.

The pope has heard confessions of ordinary Catholics every Good Friday since the beginning of his pontificate in 1978. He does not hear such confessions during the rest of the year.

The four days of frenetic activity culminate on Easter Sunday when the pope delivers his twice-yearly “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing and message which is likely to touch on the Iraq conflict.

An Iraqi family invited by the Vatican is due to carry the cross for part of Friday’s ceremony.

On Holy Thursday, the pope had said the offerings collected during evening mass would “go towards alleviating the urgent needs of those who are suffering in Iraq due to the war”.

The pope led a vigorous anti-war campaign ahead of the U.S.-led attack. Since Baghdad was seized, the Vatican has urged a quick end to the conflict and offered to help coordinate humanitarian assistance through its Iraqi dioceses.

SARS, the flu-like virus which has claimed 170 lives around the world, will also share the Via Crucis spotlight.

The family of Italian doctor Carlo Urbani, the World Health Organisation medic who died of SARS last month after treating one of the first patients infected with the virus in Vietnam, will bear the cross during part of the ceremony.

Researchers have said SARS, which is new to science and has no known cure, should be named after Urbani. This year, the pontiff has started using a new mobile throne to wheel him up and down the aisles of St Peter’s Basilica, helping him conserve his strength.—Reuters