A convalescing Pope Francis greeted the crowd in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday, wishing more than 20,000 faithful a "Happy Palm Sunday, Happy Holy Week" in another reassuring public sign of his recovery from a life-threatening battle with double pneumonia. Many in the crowd reached out to touch Francis' hand or garments as he was brought in a wheelchair down a ramp to the main altar, where he issued his brief greeting into a microphone. The 88-year-old pope was not wearing nasal tubes for supplemental oxygen, the AP reports, as he had during a similar appearance last Sunday.
On his way back to St. Peter's Basilica from where he had emerged, Francis stopped to bless a rosary, and he offered candy to a boy who greeted him. The 88-year-old Francis is entering his fourth week of convalescence during which doctors have advised him to avoid crowds. While Francis is clearly eager to show he is feeling better, he has not spoken more than a few words in public as he recovers from a severe respiratory crisis that has labored his speech. The Vatican said it was waiting to advise on what role he may play in Holy Week events leading up to Easter Sunday, per the AP.
On Saturday, Francis went to the St. Mary Major Basilica in central Rome to pray privately before a favorite icon of the Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani. In the traditional Sunday blessing, the pontiff thanked the faithful for their prayers. For the ninth week, including his five-week hospitalization starting Feb. 14, the blessing was delivered as a text. The pope offered prayers for those suffering in the conflict in Sudan, which marks its second anniversary on Tuesday, and for Lebanon, where civil war began 50 years ago, as well as for peace in Ukraine, the Middle East, Congo, Myanmar, and South Sudan. In a prepared Palm Sunday homily read by a cardinal, Francis urged the faithful to carry the cross "of those who suffer around us" to mark the start of the solemn Holy Week.
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