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Pope walks in Ash Wednesday procession between Rome churches

Pope Francis caresses a young girl as he arrives for his weekly general audience, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has walked in a solemn Ash Wednesday procession between churches on Rome’s ancient Aventine Hill.

Pope Francis caresses a young girl as he arrives for his weekly general audience, in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Francis, carrying his pastoral staff, chanted prayers along with other participants during the few minutes’ walk down the street. In the mild, late afternoon temperatures, Francis wore a purple cloak, in keeping with the somber Lenten mood, a penitential period for Christians preparing for Easter next month.

The ceremony inside St. Sabina’s Basilica includes a ritual dab of ashes on the heads of faithful. The ashes symbolize mortality. Francis sprinkled incense at the altar of the basilica, which dates to the early 5th century.

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