Vatican City (Reuters) – pope francisHe had not been in good health recently, but appeared to be feeling better on Wednesday ahead of a busy Easter week schedule.
During his weekly audience, the 87-year-old pope read aloud from a prepared text in its entirety, appearing more powerful than in recent audiences where his aides did most of the reading.
Francis renewed his appeal for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East, greeting two men in the audience, an Israeli and a Palestinian, who both said they had lost daughters in the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war.
He described them as two friends who “loved each other and experienced the same cross.”
Francisco has been suffering from bronchitis and influenza off and on for more than a month, which has limited his public speaking, canceled some conferences and sent him to a hospital in Rome for medical checkups.
Three days ago, his absence from preaching at the Palm Sunday service in St. Peter's Square renewed concerns about his condition.
The pope is scheduled to preside over a number of services in the lead-up to Easter Sunday, including a foot-washing ceremony at a women's prison on Thursday.
Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar, celebrating the day Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead.
Francis, whose mobility has also been limited by knee problems, arrived at the Paul VI Audience Hall on Wednesday walking with a cane rather than the wheelchair he sometimes uses.
He appeared in good spirits, telling the faithful that the venue had to be moved indoors at the last minute due to rainy weather, forcing the audience to move from St. Peter's Square.
“It's definitely going to be a little cramped, but at least you won't get wet,” he said.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Ros Russell)
