Pope Francis Bénit faithful to Easter Mass

Pope Francis has blessed tens of thousands of faithful gathered on Saint-Pierre square for Easter mass, his weak and raucous voice a reminder of his fragility less than a month after being released from a long stay in the hospital for deadly pneumonia.

A roar broke out of the crowd on the square when the pope appeared in a wheelchair on a balcony at the Saint-Pierre basilica and raised a hand in greeting.

“Dear brothers and sisters, happy Easter,” said the pope. Then he waited for Archbishop Diego Ravelli, an assistant from the Vatican, delivered the “Urbi et Orbi”, a papal address pronounced at Easter and Christmas.

After the address, Francis blessed the people present, then praised. The crowd gathered on the square applauded and shouted, “viva il dad” or “long live the pope”.

Before his appearance, the Pope met “for a few minutes” with the vice-president JD Vance, who spent the Easter weekend in Rome, according to the Vatican.

When Francis was sent from the hospital on March 23, his doctors advised him to relax for at least two months when he was convinced – and to move away from crowds and situations where he could be exposed to germs. His doctor said that Francis had almost died in the hospital, where he spent five weeks being treated for pneumonia and other complications.