Pope Francis greeted the faithful around the world for the last time from St. Peter’s Basilica on the most important day for Christians: Easter, the heart and foundation of the Catholic faith that proclaims Christ’s triumph over sin and death.
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On the morning of April 20, before tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis appeared from the central loggia of the basilica to deliver his Easter message.
His face marked by fatigue and his voice broken by his difficulty breathing, the Holy Father delivered with great effort what would be his last blessing: “Dear brothers and sisters: Happy Easter!” A day later, on the morning of April 21, Pope Francis died at the age of 88.
In his Easter message, read Sunday by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical ceremonies, the Holy Father expressed his profound longing for peace and hoped “that the principle of humanity as its cardinal axis may never fail.”
“On this day, I would like us to once again hope and trust in others — even those who are not close to us or who come from distant lands, with customs, lifestyles, ideas, and habits different from those we are most familiar with — for we are all children of God,” Pope Francis expressed.
At the end of his message, the pontiff gave the faithful one of those “surprises” that have characterized the final days of his pontificate since he was discharged from Gemelli Hospital in Rome on March 23.
Pope Francis made the circuit of the packed square for about 20 minutes, greeting the 35,000 faithful with affection and warmth from the popemobile, the crowd reciprocating with applause and cheers, a scene captured for posterity.
Since his discharge from the hospital, Pope Francis appeared in public on several occasions, always unexpectedly, without an official public agenda.
Although he was not expected to receive large groups or hold audiences during his convalescence, he reappeared for the first time on April 6 to participate in the Jubilee of the Sick.
He also held a private meeting with the British monarchs after the cancellation of their official visit to the Vatican, and on April 10, he surprised everyone with a visit, without papal attire, to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray at the tomb of St. Pius X.
The Holy Father also visited St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome to pray before the icon of the Virgin Mary, “Salus Populi Romani” (“Protection of the Roman People”), to whom he always held a great devotion. On Palm Sunday, he could be seen without nasal cannulas greeting the cardinals and faithful at the end of Mass.
Just five days ago, he visited Rome’s Regina Coeli prison on the afternoon of Holy Thursday to meet with 70 inmates. He also reappeared at the Vatican basilica on Holy Saturday to be close to the faithful who were about to celebrate the Easter Vigil.
In addition, on April 16, he received at the Vatican 70 members of the medical teams of Gemelli Hospital to thank them for their care during his hospitalization.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
