Recovering pope expected to delight crowds at Easter Sunday mass

On the holiest day of the Christian calendar, Easter Sunday, Catholic faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the hopes that Pope Francis would attend, despite his ailing health that has prevented him from attending most Holy Week festivities.

Following service on the holiday, the 88-year-old pope customarily gives his “Urbi et Orbi” benediction from a balcony with a view of the square.

However, it is still unclear whether and in what capacity the head of the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide will be present, considering his fragile health after undergoing treatment for pneumonia.

The pope aspires to attend, but the Holy See’s press office has not confirmed that he will, stating that it depends on his health.

Even so, throngs of worshippers gathered Sunday under overcast skies in the expansive plaza in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, which was adorned with vibrant tulips, in the hopes of seeing the Jesuit pope.

59-year-old Marie Manda from Cameroon was among those with optimistic thoughts.

“We obviously hope to see the pope, but we’ll see his representative if he’s not here and he’s still in pain,” she told AFP.

“But even though we’re ill, we still want to see the pope!” However, 40-year-old Indian traveler Rajesh Kumar claimed that when he and his wife made their travel arrangements, he was unaware that it was Easter.

He remarked, “We just entered and are ready for it after realizing there is a festival going on and the pope is going to give a speech.”

Following five weeks of treatment for pneumonia, which nearly killed him, Francis was discharged from the hospital on March 23.

Even though his respiration has improved, his voice is still feeble. Francis has made two public appearances in the past week without the nasal cannula that he uses to receive oxygen.

He may assign someone else to read his Easter piece, which is typically a commentary on global crises and conflicts.

Francis, who outsourced his responsibilities to cardinals, has skipped most Holy Week activities for the first time since he was elected pope in 2013. This includes Friday’s Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum and Saturday’s Easter vigil at Saint Peter’s Basilica.

He did, however, briefly visit the basilica on Saturday, where he offered some of the guests’ children candy and said a prayer. The Easter mass on Sunday will be attended by over 300 cardinals, bishops, and priests.

The Jubilee, a “Holy Year” in the Catholic Church that occurs once every 25 years and draws thousands of pilgrims to the Eternal City, is expected to draw even larger throngs than usual, according to organizers.

Christian rarity
The fact that US Vice President JD Vance was in Rome over the weekend was also significant.
He met with Paul Richard Gallagher, the secretary for relations with nations at the Holy See, and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state at the Vatican, on Saturday.

That was only two months after Francis and the US President Donald Trump administration got into a heated argument over the government’s anti-immigration policies.

Regarding any potential meeting between Francis and Vance, neither the Vatican nor the vice president’s office has provided any comments. It was also unclear if the vice president intended to attend Sunday mass.

Francis was replaced at Saturday night’s solemn Easter vigil by Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.

This Holy Week, Francis made one official appearance—visiting a prison in Rome—but he skipped the customary foot-washing ceremony, which aims to replicate Jesus Christ washing his followers’ feet.

After his visit, a journalist asked the pope how he felt about Easter week given his current state of health. He said, “I am living it as best I can.”

Easter this year is unique since it falls on the same weekend for both the Orthodox, which uses the Julian calendar, and the Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity, which use the Gregorian calendar.