Pope Francis reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in an Easter Sunday message read aloud by an aide as the pontiff, still recovering from pneumonia, looked on during a brief appearance on the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The 88-year-old pope, limiting his workload on doctors’ orders, did not preside over the Vatican’s Mass for Easter 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).

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.

In the Easter message, the pontiff said the situation in Gaza was “dramatic and deplorable”.

“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,” it said.

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 Gaza health ministry says 1,600 people have been killed in the past month.

Earlier, the Holy See’s press service has said the pope hopes to attend but has not confirmed his participation, insisting it depends on his health.

That did not stop crowds of faithful from gathering Sunday under hazy skies in the sprawling plaza decorated with brightly-coloured tulips in front of St Peter’s Basilica, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Jesuit pope.

Marie Manda, 59, from Cameroon, was one of those thinking positive.

“Of course we hope to see the pope but if he’s not here and he’s still suffering we’ll see his representative,” she told AFP.

“But we want to see the pope, even sick we want to see him!” Indian tourist Rajesh Kumar, 40, however, said he had no idea it was Easter when he booked his holiday with his wife.

“After coming here we realised there is a festival going on, the pope is going to give a speech, so we just entered and we are ready for it,” he said.

The pope’s voice remains weak, despite improvements in his breathing. In the last week, Francis has appeared in public twice without the nasal cannula through which he has been receiving oxygen.

He could delegate the reading of his Easter text — usually a reflection on conflicts and crises around the world — to someone else.

For the first time since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has missed the majority of Holy Week events, such as Friday’s Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum and Saturday’s Easter vigil at Saint Peter’s Basilica, where he delegated his duties to cardinals.

He did, however, make a brief appearance inside the basilica Saturday, where he prayed and gave candies to some children among the visitors.

Organisers expect even bigger crowds than usual due to the Jubilee, a “Holy Year” in the Catholic Church which comes around once every quarter of a century and attracts thousands of pilgrims to the Eternal City.

Christian rarity

The weekend was also noteworthy for the presence of US Vice President Vance in Rome.

He held talks on Saturday with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states.

That came just two months after a spat between Francis and the administration of US President Donald Trump over its anti-migrant policies.

Neither the Vatican nor the vice president’s office have commented on any possible meeting between Francis and Vance, and it was unknown whether the vice president planned to attend Sunday mass.

Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the college of cardinals, presided over Saturday night’s solemn Easter vigil in place of Francis.

Francis performed one official engagement this Holy Week, visiting a jail in Rome, but he did not perform the traditional foot-washing ritual, which seeks to imitate Jesus Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet.

Asked by a journalist after his visit what he felt about this Easter week in his current condition, the pope replied: “I am living it as best I can.”

This year’s Easter is unusual as it falls on the same weekend in both the Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity, which follow the Gregorian calendar, and the Orthodox branch, which uses the Julian calendar.