Pope Francis emerged from his recovery period on Easter Sunday, blessing the thousands of people in St. Peters Square, dealing with the surprising Popemovie rampage through Piazza, and eliciting wild cheers and applause as he continued his recovery from a deadly match of double pneumonia.
“Viva Il Papa!” (Lives the Pope for a long time), “Bravo!” crowd cried as Francis looped the square with his open-top popemovie, and looped up and down the main avenue leading to it. He sometimes stopped to celebrate the baby raised by him. This is a scene that was common in the past, but was unthinkable a few weeks ago as 88-year-old Francis fought in his life.
“Brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!” said Francis, his voice sounded stronger than he had since his hospitalization.
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Francis did not celebrate Piazza's Easter Mass. However, after the Mass was over, Francis appeared on the lodge balcony for over 20 minutes on the entrance to the basilica, giving him an apostolic blessing in Latin. Thousands of people below exploded with cheers as the military band kicked off the Holy Sea and the Italian national anthem.
The Vatican archbishop waved from his balcony and read aloud his speech, the global attraction of peace in the world's hotspots, a hallmark of the Vatican Easter celebrations.
Overall, he was outside for about 50 minutes on a sunny spring day. The temperature was 21°C in the daffodils, tulips and other flower squares donated by the Netherlands for Easter.
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On his way to the Cathedral, Francis met Vice President J.D. Vance, who was spending Easter with his family in Rome, briefly in a hotel. The Vatican said the encounters lasted only a few minutes and were designed to allow for exchanges of Easter greetings.
Francis has only appeared a few times since returning to the Vatican on March 23 after 38 days of hospitalization. He skipped the strict worship services on Good Friday and Holy Saturday leading up to Easter, but he was expected to appear on Sunday.
Easter is the most enjoyable moment in the Christian liturgical calendar as faithful people celebrate the resurrection of Christ after his cross. This year, Easter was celebrated on the same day by Catholics and Orthodox Christians, and is characterized by a temporary Easter truce announced in the war in Ukraine, when Russia was announced.
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Vatican Easter is traditionally related to the Mass and Pope's City and Orbi's Blessings (Latin for “city and the world”).
In his speech, read by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of liturgical rituals, Francis called for peace in Gaza and Ukraine, the Congo and Myanmar and other hot spots.
“May the resurrected Christ Grant Ukraine be devastated by his gift of Easter peace, war, and encourage all parties involved to pursue an effort aimed at achieving just and lasting peace,” the message said. “In this year of Jubilee, Easter will also be a suitable opportunity for the release of prisoners and political prisoners!”
Francis severely reduced his workload following the orders of a two-month recovery period and respiratory therapy doctor to improve lung function. He still seems to need a great deal of effort to project his voice, and his breathing remains in the effort. But it sounded stronger than ever in some of the words he emanated from the loggia.
Before Sunday, his biggest outing was to visit a prison in downtown Rome and spend a holy Thursday with the prisoners. The visit revealed his priorities as he slowly recovered: spending most time with people in the margins.
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