Pope Francis, who is recovering from bronchitis, took to the streets of Rome on Friday to bathe crowds on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
The Argentinian Jesuit, who turns 87 next week, went to the Plaza de España in the afternoon to pray in front of the statue of the Virgin, an annual tradition in Italy where December 8 is a feast day.
On a cold, gray day, the pope approached the crowd in a wheelchair and shook hands with tourists and Romans stationed behind a fence.
Jorge Bergoglio stood in front of the sculpture leaning on a cane and “praying for all those who suffer from injustice, poverty and war.”
“Look at the martyred people of Ukraine, the Palestinian people and the Israeli people, who have been plunged into violence again,” he said.
At noon, the pope appeared at a window in St. Peter’s Square for the first time since late November, after bronchitis forced him to rest in his residence and pray the Angelus.
Due to the infection, the Pope had to cancel his trip to Dubai in early December to attend the United Nations Climate Summit (COP28).
The pope was in poor health, suffering from severe pain in his knees and problems with his hips and colon. In June, he underwent abdominal surgery and in March, he was hospitalized with respiratory problems.
(Information from AFP)