Urbi et orbi | The Pope pleads for peace and indulges in a crowd bath

(Vatican City) Pope Francis invited on Sunday “not to give in to the logic of weapons” after taking a walkabout on the occasion of Easter celebrations at the Vatican, easing the concerns of recent hours around of his failing health.

“Let us not let the ongoing hostilities continue to seriously affect the civilian population which is now exhausted, especially the children,” urged the 87-year-old pope during his blessing Urbi and orbi (“to the city and to the world”).

Citing more than a dozen countries in the grip of war in a broad overview of international conflicts, he renewed his call for the release of Israeli hostages and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urged to “a general exchange of all prisoners between Russia and Ukraine”.

“War is always an absurdity and a defeat! Let us not let the winds of war blow ever stronger across Europe and the Mediterranean. Let us not give in to the logic of weapons and rearmament,” added the Argentine pope from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

A few minutes earlier, aboard his “popemobile”, Francis, smiling and apparently in good shape, greeted and blessed the approximately 60,000 faithful present, to the cheers of a crowd gathered behind the barriers, in the aisles of St. Peter’s Square.

“Long live Dad!” “, shouted the pilgrims, cell phones in hand or waving flags, under heavy security.

The head of the Catholic Church, arriving in a wheelchair under an overcast sky, presided over the ceremony lasting nearly an hour and a half from the platform decorated, as every year, with rich floral decorations.

Frantic pace

On Friday, Francis reignited speculation about his state of health after the last-minute cancellation of his participation in the traditional Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum.

The Vatican had specified that this measure had been taken “to preserve his health in view of the vigil” on Saturday “and the mass on Easter Sunday”.

In fact, he was able to normally preside over the Easter vigil on Saturday evening without showing fatigue despite the two and a half hours of solemn celebration. In particular, he delivered a ten-minute homily in Italian, without particular difficulty.

Friday’s cancellation – which occurred moments before the start of the ceremony, forcing the organizers to hastily remove the papal chair – and the Vatican’s laconic communication helped to revive questions about the failing health of Jorge Bergoglio.

A highlight of the Catholic liturgical calendar, Holy Week, which involves numerous ceremonies ending with Easter, can be compared to a marathon for an octogenarian who has been traveling in a wheelchair for two years.

Francis has recently appeared tired and has been forced on several occasions to delegate the reading of his speeches, citing bronchitis for which he had undergone examinations in a Rome hospital in late February.

He had also abandoned the reading of his Palm Sunday homily, without explanation.

Despite a major abdominal operation in 2023, Francis, who never takes vacation, continues to submit to a hectic pace at the Vatican, where he can receive around ten people in a morning.

However, his age and precarious health seem to be catching up with him: he has not traveled since his visit to Marseille (south of France) in September and had to cancel his trip to Dubai for the COP28 in December, due to bronchitis. .

On Sunday, the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs announced that he would visit the predominantly Muslim country on September 3, a trip that is to be associated with Papua New Guinea and East Timor, but which the Vatican has not not made official so far.

Francis has always left “the door open” to a possible renunciation, in line with his predecessor Benedict XVI. But in an autobiography published in mid-March, he reiterated that he had no “serious reason” to renounce his office, a “remote hypothesis” which would only be justified in the event of a “serious physical impediment”.