Holy Week and Easter marks the highest point of the Christian calendar. It is an intense period of prayer and reflection and a moment when the Pope should be at the center of the celebrations, presiding over several long public liturgies while Catholics mark the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. But this year is different.
Pope Francis, who always recalls a double pneumonia which has almost ended his life, is unable to direct the services as he did in previous years. His serious respiratory infection left him unable to speak in public for long periods.
Francis is now almost a month in a two -month recovery period prescribed by doctors after leaving the hospital on March 23. As such, he delegated the cardinals to direct the services of the Vatican and one to the Colison of Rome on Friday evening, although a spokesperson for the Vatican declared the Pope on Tuesday who prepared the meditations for the “crossroads” on hiking.
While listening to the advice of his doctors, the Pope is always determined to be visible at Easter, which means that the Vatican is on high alert for last -minute appearances. On Saturday, the Vatican said that Francis hoped to be present for a blessing after Easter Sunday Mass.
Thursday afternoon, Francis made a surprise visit to the prison of Rome Regina Coeli to show her solidarity with the detainees.
“Whenever I enter these places, I wonder why and not me,” he told a journalist in the seat before his car when he arrived.
Pope Francis Visit the prison of Regina Coeli in Rome on April 17, 2025 – Divisione Produzione Fotografica / Vatican Media / Reuters
He spent 30 minutes in prison, a few minutes by car from his Vatican residence, telling the prisoners that he was sorry that this time, he could not perform the annual ritual of feet washing traditionally led on Thursday before Easter. “This year, I can’t do it, but I can and I want to be close to you. I pray for you and your families,” he said.
The feet washing ritual, which emphasizes humility and seeks to imitate washing by Jesus Christ from the feet of his disciples at night before his death, is something that Francis has taken outside the Vatican every year since his election.
Since his release from the hospital, the Pope has shown that he did not want to be confined in his rooms at Casa Santa Marta. Here, he undergoes daily physiotherapy when he tries to recover his voice and has access to medical care 24 hours a day.
Francis also recently made surprise appearances at the end of the masses and visits to the Saint-Pierre basilica, one where he was seen bearing a relaxed dress and without the white papal cassock. The Vatican said that the state of the pope is slowly improving.
The workers place a crucifix on the altar of the Saint -Pierre basilica in the Vatican during the preparations for the celebration of the Passion of Christ, Friday April 18, 2025. – Alessandra Tarantino /
The expectations concerning its presence increase, since Easter weekend is a time when believers flock to Rome in the hope of seeing the Pope. US vice -president JD Vance – a Catholic convert which was received in church at the age of 35 in 2019 – and his family is one of them.
Vance attended the service in Saint-Pierre commemorating the suffering and death of Christ on Good Friday. On Saturday, he met Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state of the Holy See. In addition to managing the Pope’s recovery, Vance’s visit is an act of diplomatic rope for the Vatican.
During the hospitalization of the Pope, the vice-president asked for prayers for the health of the pontiff. But Vance and Francis are separated in migration. Just before the Pope was hospitalized, he published a reprimand of the Immigration policy of the Trump administration – a rare intervention.
The vice-president had invoked a theological concept, the “Ordo Amoris” (“order of love” or “order of charity”), to defend the approach of the administration, but Francis refuted this affirmation.
“The real” Ordo Amoris “which must be promoted is that which we discover by constantly meditating on the parable of” good Samaritan “, that is to say by meditating on love which builds an open fraternity to all, without exception,” wrote the Pope in a letter to the American bishops.
Usha Vance returns to the American vice-president JD Vance, carrying their daughter Mirabel, while they land Air Force Deux on arrival in Rome, Italy, April 18. – Kenny Holston / Reuters
The Vatican also expressed his concerns about the Cups of the USAID, while an American bishop born in Salvador called on Catholics to resist the deportations of the Trump administration, invoking Oscar Romero, a martyred archbishop and a saint of the country.
Despite tensions, the Pope and senior Vatican officials frequently meet the world leaders with whom they do not agree and seek to find common ground.
All this is made more uncertain given the health of the Pope. Good Friday is a time when Christians commemorate the suffering and death of Christ, followed by the celebration of his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
On Easter Sunday at noon, the pope would normally give his “Urbi and Orbi” (“to the city and the world”) blessing and address. On Saturday, the Vatican said that the Pope hoped to be present for this blessing, at the end of the mass.
After 38 days in the hospital, and despite his continuous convalescence, Francis showed a determination to present himself for Holy Week and will look at the famous Balcon de Saint-Pierre on Sunday, praying for an appearance.
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