Pope Marks Easter With Big Crowd

April 9, 2023 6:48 am

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is celebrating Easter Sunday along with dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square. Tulips, forsythia and other spring flowers trucked in from the Netherlands made the vast Vatican City space colorful. At the start of Mass, Francis sprinkled holy water and sounded tired as he recited ritual words in Latin. He was back in the publis eye 12 hours after a very long Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica the night before. Francis has generally rebounded following a three-day stay last week at a Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis. The 86-year-old pope skipped the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum.