Pope Francis kept a busy schedule until the day before his death, meeting with Vice President JD Vance and defying doctors’ orders to rest.
After he met with Mr. Vance, a Catholic, Pope Francis then appeared from a balcony that overlooks St. Peter’s Square and blessed Catholics gathered to celebrate Easter on Sunday.
“I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill,” Mr. Vance wrote in a post on X on Monday.
Mr. Vance acknowledged the “millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” and remembered a message from Francis in the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic.
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transcript
Pope Francis and Vice President JD Vance briefly met on Easter Sunday.
Hello. So good to see you. I pray for you every day. God bless you. Happy Easter.
Pope Francis and Vice President JD Vance briefly met on Easter Sunday.CreditCredit…Vatican Media, via Agence France-Presse
The few minutes that Francis spent with Mr. Vance were just a small part of his busy schedule on Sunday — less than a month after he had been discharged from a lengthy hospital stay. Francis, 88, had almost died in the hospital, his doctors said.
But in early April, it seemed as though his health had begun to improve, the Vatican said. Then, he made a few public appearances, although his doctors had told him to take it easy for at least two months.
That was a tall order for Francis, long motivated by a sense of mission, who may have worked himself into the hospital earlier this year, according to Vatican observers. On Sunday, his drive appeared undiminished.
After meeting with Mr. Vance, Francis blessed tens of thousands of people who had gathered in St. Peter’s Square, sitting in a wheelchair on a balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Dear brothers and sisters, happy Easter,” he said, his voice weak and raspy. As he waved, the crowd roared.
“Long live the pope,” the gathered faithful cheered.
Then, he waited as an aide read out his Easter message, where he reiterated his earlier criticism of anti-immigrant positions, like those pushed by Mr. Vance and President Trump.
In February, before he entered the hospital, Francis had criticized the Trump administration’s deportation policies in an unusually pointed rebuke of the American government. On Sunday, he again condemned anti-immigrant stances and war in his address.
“How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants!” he wrote.
Francis spoke directly about the war in Gaza: “Call a cease-fire.”
He also said that rising antisemitism was “worrisome.” At the same time, he added, “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.”
The crowd repeatedly applauded, interrupting his speech, which would be his final “Urbi et Orbi” (or “To the City and the World”), a papal address delivered at Easter and Christmas.
The message lists the global concerns of the Vatican. On Saturday, the Vatican said that Francis deeply wanted to be present for it.
Then, after mass, he rode through St. Peter’s Square in an open car. As he drove by, the crowds applauded and called out his name.
