Pope Francis made a brief appearance at St. Peter's Square to mark Easter Sunday, although the Mass was delivered by a high-ranking cardinal as the pontiff recovers from double pneumonia.

Minutes after Cardinal Angelo Comastri presided over the service in front of tens of thousands of  Catholic Church followers, Francis appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to bless the crowd and wish them "Happy Easter," which drew loud cheers and applause.

What was the pope's Easter message?

The pope's traditional "Urbi et Orbi" ("To the City and the World") blessing was delivered by a Vatican archbishop as Francis sat in his wheelchair.

Francis described a "growing climate of antisemitism around the world" and also condemned the situation in Gaza and reiterated his call for a ceasefire. 

"I think of the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation," read the pope's traditional Easter address.  

The pope also called for freedom of religion and respect for the views of others, saying peace was not possible without them. 

"There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others," the address read.

After the blessing, Francis was driven through the gathered crowd, circling St. Peter's Square, in the open-top popemobile.

The blessing and earlier Mass, which commemorates the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, was attended by some 300 cardinals, bishops and priests.

How is the pope's health?

The 88-year-old left Rome's Gemelli Hospital four weeks ago after spending more than a month in the hospital.

However, doctors say he still needs more time to recover following his life-threatening illness.

The pope's voice remains weak, despite improvements in his breathing. He has appeared in public twice over the last week without the nasal cannula that delivered oxygen.

Francis, who is the leader of the world's more than 1.4 billion Catholics, missed the majority of Holy Week events for the first time since his election in 2013.

They include 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 also missed the traditional foot-washing ritual on Thursday, which is meant to imitate Jesus Christ washing his disciples' feet.

Francis did, however, make a brief appearance at St. Peter's on Saturday to greet visitors.

A million pilgrims in Rome

This year, the Easter festival holds even more significance because the Catholic Church has declared 2025 a Jubilee or holy year.

During such a year, pilgrims are encouraged to travel to Rome, and travel through the doors of the four major basilicas — St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major.

This weekend alone, an estimated 1 million visitors are in the city, including believers from all over the world.

Among them is US Vice President JD Vance. He converted to the Catholic faith in 2019 and plans to attend Easter Mass with his family.

Vance briefly met with Francis on Sunday at the Domus Santa Marta to exchange Easter greetings, the Vatican said.

The vice president held talks on Saturday with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The meeting followed a spat between Francis and the Trump administration over its efforts to deport undocumented migrants en masse from the US.

Edited by Sean Sinico