The “Palm Sunday” Mass was celebrated in the Vatican on the Sunday before Easter. While the Catholic spiritual leader Pope Francis did not conduct the Mass, Cardinal Leandro Sandri took on this role in his place.

Known as the “Palm Sunday Festival” in memory of the last entry of Jesus to Jerusalem before being crucified, where people took to the streets waving palm leaves with joy according to the Christian faith, the celebration was held with a Mass attended by about 20,000 people in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. After being treated at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome for 38 days due to severe bronchitis in February and discharged on March 23, Pope Francis, who is currently in the recovery period, did not conduct the Mass whereas Cardinal Leandro Sandri took on this role.

POPE GREETS BELIEVERS The Pope, in a wheelchair, came to St. Peter’s Square in the last part of the Mass to greet the believers and said, “Wishing you a Happy Palm Sunday, and a blessed Holy Week.” Last week, Pope Francis also greeted the believers in St. Peter’s Square at the end of the Mass as part of the “Jubilee” year events. It is yet unclear whether Pope Francis, who is currently in the recovery period, will be able to lead the Easter Mass and rituals next week. Reports in the media suggest that although it is not currently anticipated for him to participate in the Holy Week events, Pope could still surprise in the coming days. THE PERIOD WHEN THE POPE WAS HOSPITALIZED Pope Francis, during two public events on February 9 and 12, expressed he was suffering from bronchitis and struggling to breathe, thus unable to deliver a speech, asking his assistants to read the speech texts. He was admitted to the hospital on February 14 with a polymicrobial infection in his respiratory tract. Vatican officially stated on February 18 that Pope had developed bilateral pneumonia and his clinical condition was complex. Vatican also reported on February 28 that Pope had a bronchospasm crisis, underwent bronchoaspiration, received mechanical ventilation, and responded positively to the treatment.

TWO RESPIRATORY CRISIS EPISODES The spiritual leader of Catholics suffered from acute respiratory failure twice on March 3, and once again resorted to non-invasive mechanical ventilation. Showing signs of slight improvement starting from March 4, it was reported that the last chest x-ray on March 12 radiologically confirmed the improvements recorded in the previous days. After greeting the people from the hospital balcony on March 23, Pope Francis was discharged. In an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper on March 25, Prof. Sergio Alfieri disclosed that the Pope had narrowly escaped death twice during his hospitalization.