After a few days of anxiety in the Catholic Church, Pope Francis left the hospital and celebrated a big service on St. Peter’s Square again at the weekend. “I thank you for your sympathy and also for your prayers, which you have increased again in the past few days. Thank you very much,” he said. The approximately 60,000 believers present applauded.
The 86-year-old presided over the Palm Sunday mass, which begins Holy Week and ends with Easter, the highest Catholic festival. He was driven to the square in the popemobile and did not participate in the procession with palm branches to commemorate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. That was planned anyway, because Francis has had difficulty walking for about a year because of a knee problem. In addition, his voice sometimes seemed a bit brittle during the service.
“I’m still alive!” – with this joking comment, the Pope greeted reporters and onlookers on Saturday when he left the hospital. He felt a little “unwell” last Wednesday and therefore went to the clinic. There, the doctors diagnosed bronchitis and treated the Argentinean with an antibiotic, as the Holy See announced.
Fears that he might miss the important celebrations of Mass around Easter were dispelled by Francis himself. On Sunday morning – just 24 hours after leaving the hospital – he was back in St. Peter’s Square. The Holy See specified that he would also preside over the services on Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday – when he gives the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing.
Pope does not want to miss any celebration at Easter
On Maundy Thursday, Francis travels to a juvenile prison in Rome to celebrate with the inmates and perform the traditional rite of washing their feet. This annual appointment, which always takes place in different institutions with people in difficult situations, is important to Francis. Being a pastor is the best thing about the priesthood, he said over the weekend.
When leaving the hospital, there was an emotional scene when the Pope hugged a crying woman on the street. Their five-year-old daughter Angelica died that night. Along with the mother and father, Francis said a short prayer and blessed the couple.
The Argentine praised doctors and employees in clinics. “Hospitals require heroism and tenderness with the sick,” he said. “When we are sick, we are all moody. Moods are part of illness.” During his stay, he had visited the clinic’s children’s cancer ward and baptized a newborn boy. The day before, he had fallen out of the pram and had to be taken to the hospital. The baby is also doing better “thanks to his guardian angels,” the police said.
