Pope Overcomes Health Concerns To Preside Over Mass

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has rallied from respiratory problems to lead some 60,000 people in Easter celebrations and make a strong appeal for a cease-fire in Gaza and a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine. Francis presided over Easter Sunday Mass in a flower-decked St. Peter’s Square. He then delivered a heartfelt prayer for peace in his annual roundup of global crises, delivered from the loggia overlooking the piazza. Gaza’s people, including the small Christian community there, have been a source of constant concern for Francis and Easter in the Holy Land overall was a somber affair this year given the war.