VATICAN CITY — A convalescing Pope Francis greeted the crowd in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday, wishing more than 20,000 faithful a ''Happy Palm Sunday, Happy Holy Week," in yet another reassuring public sign of his recovery from a life-threatening battle with double pneumonia.
Many in the crowd reached out to touch Francis' hand or garments as he was brought in a wheelchair down a ramp to the main altar, where he issued his brief greeting into a microphone. The 88-year-old pope was not wearing nasal tubes for supplemental oxygen, as he had during a similar appearance last Sunday.
On his way back to St. Peter's Basilica from where he had emerged, Francis stopped to bless a rosary, and offered candy to a boy who greeted him.
The 88-year-old Francis is entering his fourth week of convalescence during which doctors have advised him to avoid crowds. While Francis is clearly eager to show he is feeling better, he has not spoken more than a few words in public as he recovers from a severe respiratory crisis that has labored his speech. The Vatican said it was waiting to advise on what role he may play in upcoming Holy Week events leading up to Easter Sunday.
It was his second time in St. Peter's Square before a crowd since leaving the hospital, following last Sunday's unexpected appearance that thrilled the faithful. He also met privately with King Charles III and Queen Camilla this week, and made an impromptu tour of St. Peter's Basilica, stopping to pray, and to thank a pair of restorers for their work on the basilica's masterpieces.
On Saturday, the eve of Holy Week, Francis went to the St. Mary Major Basilica in central Rome to pray privately before a favorite icon of the Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani. The basilica, which he typically visits before and after his foreign trips, was also his first stop after leaving the Gemelli hospital on March 23.
In the traditional Sunday blessing, the pontiff thanked the faithful for their prayers. ''At this time of physical weakness, they help me to feel God's closeness, compassion and tenderness even more.'' For the ninth week, including his five-week hospitalization starting Feb. 14, the blessing was delivered as a text.
The pope offered prayers for those suffering in the conflict in Sudan, which marks its second anniversary on Tuesday, and for Lebanon, where civil war began 50 years ago, as well as for peace in Ukraine, the Middle East, Congo, Myanmar and South Sudan.
