Pope greets cheering Easter crowds

Pope Francis entered St Peter's Square on Sunday in an open-air popemobile for the first time since surviving double pneumonia, greeting tens of thousands of Catholics after the Vatican's celebration of Easter Mass.

The 88-year-old sat in a raised chair in the back of the white vehicle, as people lined the aisles inside the square, many holding aloft national flags and shouting "viva il papa!" (long live the pope!).

The popemobile briefly stopped at several points around the square, decorated with colourful flowers for Easter, as papal aides brought forward babies from the crowd for Francis to bless.

The Pope gestured with his hands, but only raised them slightly.

Francis, who has been limiting his workload on doctors' orders, did not preside over the Vatican's Easter Mass but appeared at the end of the event for a twice-yearly blessing and message known as the "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world).

In an Easter message read aloud by an aide as the Pope looked on from the main balcony of St Peter's Basilica, the pontiff reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Before a five-week hospital stay for pneumonia, which nearly killed him, Francis had been ramping up criticism of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful" in January.

Easter message

In the Easter message, the pontiff said the situation in Gaza was "dramatic and deplorable". The Pope also called on Palestinian militant group Hamas to release its remaining hostages and condemned what he said was a "worrisome" trend of antisemitism in the world.

"I express my closeness to the sufferings ... of all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people," said the message.

"I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace."

Hamas last week rejected an Israeli proposal for another temporary truce, instead demanding a deal to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday he had instructed the Israeli military to intensify pressure on Hamas.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel in 2023, in which 1200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities, with 1600 people killed in Gaza in the past month.

Meeting with Vance

Earlier on Sunday, The Pope held a meeting at the Vatican with United States Vice President JD Vance, who has been visiting Italy over the weekend.

Vance is a Catholic who has clashed with the pontiff over the Trump administration's immigration policies. 

"Pope Francis had a brief private encounter... lasting a few minutes, in order to exchange good wishes on Easter day," the Vatican said in a statement.

Vance's office issued a brief statement confirming the meeting, but offered no further details.

Vance met senior Vatican officials for more formal talks on Saturday. The Pope did not take part in those discussions.

The Pope and Vatican officials have criticised several of the policies of President Donald Trump's administration, including his plans to deport millions of migrants from the US and his widespread cuts to foreign aid and domestic welfare programmes.

Francis has called the immigration crackdown a "disgrace". Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, has cited medieval-era Catholic teaching to justify the policy.

The Pope rebutted the theological concept Vance used to defend the crackdown in an unusual open letter to the US Catholic bishops about the Trump administration in February, and called Trump's plan a "major crisis" for the US.