ROME, Italy (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI rode on a motorised cart in an Ash Wednesday procession, forsaking the traditional short walk between two Rome churches as the 84-year-old pontiff tries to conserve his energy.

The pope wore an ermine-trimmed crimson cape to protect him from the chilly, early-evening air as he stood in the cart during the brief procession atop the Aventine Hill, between St Anselmo Church and the Basilica of Santa Sabina. The white vehicle resembled a kind of mini popemobile he uses on trips and to get around the vast expanse of St Peter's Square.

But Benedict walked briskly and unassisted into and out of the basilica, where he led a solemn service to mark the start of the Lenten season of penitence, including the placement of ashes on the forehead of faithful. He wore purple-coloured vestments as he celebrated Mass in the ancient basilica.

In his homily, he noted that Ash Wednesday is a "day of penitence and fasting". Lent helps spiritually prepare Roman Catholics for Easter, which this year falls on April 8.

Benedict rubbed ashes on the foreheads of some faithful, as they approached him one by one, to symbolise mortality.

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