VATICAN CITY:
Pope Francis appeared in front of thousands of Catholic faithful in St Peter’s Square on Sunday for Easter, despite the fragile health of the 88 -year -old pontiff who prevented him with the events of Holy Week.
“Happy Easter,” said the Argentinian pontiff in a weak voice in his wheelchair at the Balcony of the Saint-Pierre Basilica, the pleasure of tens of thousands of faithful and others on the Fleurie square.
The Pope traditionally delivers his “Urbi and Orbi” (“to the city and the world”) of the balcony which neglects the Place Saint-Pierre, but he gave this task to a collaborator on Sunday.
His speech, read, condemned “disturbing” anti -Sememism and the “deplorable” situation in Gaza.
Given his delicate health after treatment for pneumonia, it was not certain that the chief of the 1.4 billion Catholics of the world was present, or if so, in what title.
In the end, the Pope appeared.
Just in advance, he had a brief private meeting with the American vice-president JD Vance, who visited Rome with his family. “The meeting, which lasted a few minutes, gave the possibility of exchanging greetings on Easter Sunday,” wrote the Vatican in a brief declaration, saying that the meeting had taken place at the Pope’s residence shortly before 11:30 am, local time (930 GMT).
Their meeting occurred for months after a sputum between Francis and the administration of American president Donald Trump about his anti-migrant policies.
