At the climax of the Easter celebrations, Pope Francis celebrated Easter Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square in Rome.
Although the head of the Catholic Church officially presided over the traditional Easter Mass, it was celebrated by Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.
Some 45,000 faithful gathered on the forecourt of St Peter’s Basilica to celebrate Easter with the 86-year-old, according to the Holy See. The pontiff followed most of the Mass from a seated position.
Last weekend, around 60,000 people took part in the Palm Sunday Mass, according to the Vatican’s gendarmerie.
After the Mass, Francis was driven past the crowds in the Popemobile amid great jubilation – many of the faithful shouted loudly in Italian “Viva il Papa!” (Long live the Pope). In sunny but cool weather, the square was well filled.
After the traditional Mass on the most important feast day of the Catholic Church, the pontiff was due to give the traditional blessing “Urbi et Orbi,” Latin for “to the city and the world,” from the central loggia.
On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and thus the victory of life over death.
For the Easter holidays and “to express the joy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” St Peter’s Square was decorated with around 35,000 flowers and plants from the Netherlands and transformed into a “flower garden,” in the words of the Holy See. Tulips, daffodils and roses were draped around the altar.
