Vatican’s Easter Mass opens without Pope Francis as he continues recovering from pneumonia

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican celebrated Easter on Sunday without Pope Francis presiding, as the 88-year-old pontiff continues his recovery from a near-fatal bout of double pneumonia.

In his place, Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the retired archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, celebrated the open-air Mass before thousands of people in St. Peter's Square on a chilly but sunny spring morning.

Francis has only appeared in public a handful of times since returning to the Vatican on March 23 after a 38-day hospital stay. He skipped the solemn services of Good Friday and Holy Saturday leading up to Easter, but he was expected to make an appearance on Sunday, according to the Mass booklet and liturgical plans released by the Vatican.

Easter is the most joyful moment on the Christian liturgical calendar, when the faithful celebrate the resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion. This year, Easter is being celebrated on the same day by Catholics and Orthodox Christians, and has been marked by Russia’s announced a temporary Easter truce in its war in Ukraine.

Easter at the Vatican traditionally involves a Mass and the pope's Urbi et Orbi blessing (Latin for "to the city and the world"), a speech delivered from the loggia over the basilica entrance which is usually a roundup of global hotspots and human suffering. It remained to be seen if Francis will appear to pronounce the speech or just impart the apostolic blessing at the end.

Francis has sharply cut back his workload as he follows doctors' orders of two months of convalescence and respiratory therapy to improve his lung function. He still seems to require great effort to project his voice, and his breathing remains labored.

Before Sunday, his biggest outing had been a visit to Rome's downtown prison to spend Holy Thursday with inmates. The visit made clear his priorities as he slowly recovers: to spend time with the people most on the margins.