Pope Francis, 88, will visit Rome’s Regina Coeli prison “in a private way” on Holy Thursday afternoon if his health condition allows it, two Italian news agencies, AGI and ANSA, reported on Wednesday afternoon, April 16. The Vatican has not yet confirmed these reports.
America has learned from a Vatican source that Pope Francis “desires” to go to the prison, which he last visited on Holy Thursday 2018 and which is only a five-minute car ride from the Vatican.
AGI, the first news agency to break the story, said the pope would visit at 4 p.m. “in a private way” and “would meet a group of inmates.”
Soon after, ANSA, the main Italian news agency, reported that “Pope Francis has expressed his desire, as is his tradition on Holy Thursday, to visit the Regina Coeli prison in Rome, where he will give the Gospel to some inmates.”
ANSA, citing “informed sources,” said the pope’s visit “would take place privately tomorrow afternoon” but “only if his health condition allows it.” It added that it is not clear if Francis would only say a prayer or if he would be present for the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, as happened when he visited this prison on Holy Thursday 2018.
The Vatican Press Office has not confirmed the news. If it were to happen, it means that Pope Francis would go to the prison on the 26th day of the at least two-month convalescence period prescribed by his doctors when they discharged him from the Gemelli Hospital after treating him for 38 days for double pneumonia, during which he suffered two life-threatening breathing crises.
Meeting with medical staff
Today, Pope Francis met with 70 medical personnel and staff from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of Vatican City State, who helped him in different ways to overcome double pneumonia during his 38 days in the hospital.
He met the group in a room behind the Paul VI Audience Hall shortly before 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, April 16.
The Vatican released a video of the encounter, which it said lasted 20 minutes. It shows a smiling Pope Francis arriving in a wheelchair and gesturing with his hands. He was welcomed by the chairman of the board of directors of the Gemelli Foundation, Daniele Franco, who, speaking on behalf of all present, wished the pope a happy Easter and recovery of his health.
Francis, who appeared to be in a joyful mood, then spoke briefly to thank them for all they had done for him. “Thank you for the service in the hospital,” he said. “Very good, keep it up!” He assured them that he is praying for each of them and asked them to remember to pray for him, too.
He then greeted them individually, the Vatican said, and joined them for a group photo before bidding them farewell.
That same morning, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had delegated Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91, the dean of the College of Cardinals, to preside at the Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica on the evening of April 19. He delegated Cardinal Angelo Comastri, 81, the emeritus vicar general for the Vatican City State and emeritus archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, to preside at the Easter Sunday morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
As reported in America yesterday, Pope Francis has also delegated the cardinals who will preside over the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday (Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, emeritus president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See); the liturgy commemorating the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday (Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, the prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches); as well as the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday evening (Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the pope’s vicar general of the Diocese of Rome).
The Vatican has not yet announced how the “urbi et orbi”—the pope’s blessing and message to the city of Rome (“urbi) and to the world (“orbi”)—will be done. Since only the pope can give such a blessing, many here expect Francis to give the blessing and a Vatican assistant to read his message to the global audience, as it is clear that at this early stage of his convalescence, he is not yet able to read a long text.
