San Francisco Frontiers - Recovering pope expected to delight crowds at Easter Sunday mass

The ailing 88-year-old pontiff has been recovering from his health ordeal since leaving hospital on March 23, having spent 38 days receiving treatment.

He is expected to deliver the "Urbi et Orbi" benediction from a balcony overlooking Saint Peter's Square from midday (1000 GMT) on Sunday in what is the most important Christian celebration.

The Holy See's press service has let it be known that Francis would likely be present for the Easter Sunday events, but without actually confirming his participation, insisting that it depends on his health.

His voice remains weak, despite improvements in his breathing, which have seen Francis appear in public twice over the last week without the nasal cannula through which he has been receiving oxygen.

He may delegate the reading of his Easter text -- in which he usually reflects on conflicts and crises around the world -- to someone else.

For the first time since his election in 2013, the spiritual leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics has missed the majority of Holy Week events, such as Friday's Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum and Saturday's Easter vigil at Saint Peter's Basilica, where he delegated his duties to cardinals.

He did, however, make a brief appearance at Saint Peter's on Saturday as he greeted visitors.

Some 300 cardinals, bishops and priests will attend Sunday's Easter mass -- which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ -- at Saint Peter's Square, which will be decorated with thousands of flowers.

Organisers expect even bigger crowds than usual due to the Jubilee, a "Holy Year" in the Catholic Church which comes around once every quarter of a century and attracts thousands of pilgrims to the Eternal City.

- Christian rarity -

It is also noteworthy for the presence of US Vice President JD Vance in Rome over the weekend.

He held talks on Saturday with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See's secretary for relations with states.

That came just two months after a spat between Francis and the administration of US President Donald Trump over its anti-migrant policies.

Neither the Vatican nor the vice president's office have commented on any possible meeting between Francis and Vance, but the Easter mass could provide such an opportunity.

Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the college of cardinals, presided over Saturday night's solemn Easter vigil in Saint Peter's Basilica in place of the Argentine pontiff.

Francis, who has been ordered to rest for two months and avoid public duties, has had a single official engagement this Holy Week, visiting a prison in Rome.

He even missed the traditional foot-washing ritual, which seeks to imitate Jesus Christ's washing of his disciples' feet.

When asked by a journalist after his prison visit what he felt about this Easter week in his current condition, the smiling pope said in a weak and raspy voice: "I am living it as best I can."

Francis, who was already weakened by previous health issues, was twice close to death during his recent illness.

This year's Easter is unusual as it falls on the same weekend in both the Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity, which follow the Gregorian calendar, and the Orthodox branch, which uses the Julian calendar.

P.Thomas--SFF