Pope Francis delights Vatican crowd with Easter Sunday popemobile tour

Pope Francis emerged from his convalescence on Easter Sunday to bless the thousands of people in St Peter’s Square and treat them to a surprise popemobile drive through the piazza, drawing wild cheers and applause as he continues his recovery from a near-fatal bout of double pneumonia.

“Viva il Papa!” (Long live the Pope), “Bravo!” the crowd shouted as Francis looped through the square in his open-topped popemobile and then up and down the main avenue leading to it.

He stopped occasionally to bless babies taken up to him, a scene that was common in the past but unthinkable just a few weeks ago as Francis, 88, fought for his life.

“Brothers and sisters, Happy Easter,” Francis said, his voice sounding stronger than it has since his admission to hospital.

Francis did not celebrate Easter Mass in the piazza, delegating it to Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the retired archpriest of St Peter’s Basilica.

But after the Mass ended, Francis appeared on the loggia balcony over the basilica entrance for more than 20 minutes and imparted the apostolic blessing in Latin.

He was outside on a sunny spring day for about 50 minutes, with temperatures at 21C in a piazza awash in daffodils, tulips and other flowers donated by the Netherlands for Easter.

On his way to the basilica, Francis briefly met US vice president JD Vance, who was spending Easter in Rome with his family.

Francis has only appeared in public a handful of times since returning to the Vatican on March 23 after a 38-day hospital stay.

He missed the solemn services of Good Friday and Holy Saturday leading up to Easter.

Easter is the most joyful moment on the Christian liturgical calendar, when the faithful celebrate the resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion.

This year, Easter is being celebrated on the same day by Catholics and Orthodox Christians, and has been marked by Russia’s announcement of a temporary Easter truce in its war in Ukraine.

Easter at the Vatican traditionally involves a Mass and the pope’s Urbi et Orbi blessing (Latin for “to the city and the world”), a speech delivered from the loggia over the basilica entrance which is usually a roundup of global hotspots and human suffering.

Francis has sharply cut back his workload as he follows doctors’ orders of two months of convalescence and respiratory therapy to improve his lung function.

He still seems to require great effort to project his voice, and his breathing remains laboured.

Before Sunday, his biggest outing had been a visit to Rome’s central prison to spend Holy Thursday with inmates.

The visit made clear his priorities as he slowly recovers: to spend time with the people most on the margins.