ROME -- Holy Week and Easter marks the high point of the Christian calendar. It is an intense period of prayer and reflection and a time when the pope would be expected to be front and center of celebrations, presiding at several long public liturgies as Catholics mark the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ. But this year is different.

Pope Francis, who is still recovering from double pneumonia which nearly ended his life, is unable to lead the services as he has done in previous years. His severe respiratory infection has left him unable to speak in public for long periods.

Francis is now almost a month into a two-month recovery period prescribed by doctors after leaving hospital on March 23. As such, he has delegated cardinals to lead the services in the Vatican and one at Rome’s Colosseum on Good Friday evening, although a Vatican spokesman said on Tuesday it was the pope who had prepared the meditations for the “Way of the Cross” at the Roman landmark.

While he is listening to his doctors’ advice, the pope is still determined to be visible over Easter, meaning the Vatican is on high alert for last-minute appearances. On Thursday afternoon, Francis made a surprise visit to Rome’s Regina Coeli prison to show his solidarity with inmates.

“Every time I enter these places, I ask myself why them and not me,” he told a reporter from the front seat of his car as he arrived.

He spent 30 minutes at the prison, a short drive from his Vatican residence, telling prisoners he was sorry that this time he could not perform the annual foot-washing ritual traditionally conducted on the Thursday before Easter. “This year I cannot do it, but I can and want to be close to you. I pray for you and your families,” he said.

The foot-washing ritual, which emphasizes humility and seeks to imitate Jesus Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet the night before he died, is something Francis has taken outside of the Vatican each year since his election.

Since his discharge from hospital, the pope has shown he does not want to be confined to his rooms at the Casa Santa Marta. Here, he is undergoing daily physiotherapy as he tries to recover his voice and has access to round-the-clock medical care.

Francis has also recently made surprise appearances at the end of Masses and visits to St. Peter’s Basilica, including one where he was seen wearing casual dress and without the white papal cassock. The Vatican has said the pope’s condition is slowly improving.

Expectations around his presence are growing, given the Easter weekend is a time when believers flock to Rome with the hope of seeing the pope. US Vice President JD Vance – a Catholic convert who was received into the church aged 35 in 2019 – and his family are among them.

Vance is expected to participate in the Holy Week services, including the service at St. Peter’s commemorating Christ’s suffering and death on Good Friday. On Saturday, he’s set to meet Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State. Along with handling the pope’s recovery, the Vance visit is a diplomatic tightrope act for the Vatican.

During the pope’s hospitalization, the vice president asked for prayers for the pontiff’s health. But Vance and Francis are poles apart when it comes to migration. Just before the pope was hospitalized, he issued a rebuke of the Trump administration’s immigration policy – a rare intervention.

The vice president had invoked a theological concept, the “ordo amoris” (“order of love” or “order of charity”), to defend the administration’s approach but Francis refuted this claim.

“The true ‘ordo amoris’ that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception,” the pope wrote in a letter to the US bishops.

The Vatican has also expressed concern about the USAID cuts, while a US bishop born in El Salvador has called for Catholics to resist deportations by the Trump administration, invoking Oscar Romero, a martyred archbishop and saint from the country.

Despite the tensions, the pope and senior Vatican officials frequently meet world leaders with whom they disagree and will look to find common ground.

All of this is made more uncertain given the pope’s health. Good Friday is a time when Christians commemorate Christ’s suffering and death, followed by celebrating his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

On Easter Sunday at midday the pope would normally give his “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and to the World”) blessing and address. This blessing can only be given by the pope. It’s unclear at this point whether he will follow tradition but, despite his condition, Francis has shown he can offer blessings and speak briefly in public.

After 38 days in hospital, and despite his continued convalescence, Francis has shown a determination to show up for Holy Week and many will be watching the famous balcony of St. Peter’s on Sunday, praying for an appearance.

The-CNN-Wire
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