Pope Francis Comes Full Circle With Holy Thursday Mass in Prison

Pope Francis is keeping busy this Holy Week, despite his recent stint in the hospital.

He is back in full force and this year he’s coming full circle.

The Pontiff is returning to the first place he celebrated Holy Thursday Mass as Pope, a juvenile prison.

The choice may be a familiar one, because exactly 15 days into his pontificate back in 2013, Pope Francis had celebrated Holy Thursday the same way.

He washed the feet of 12 young prisoners at the Casal Del Marmo Juvenile Prison on the outskirts of Rome, where he will be tomorrow.

“This is a gesture that says: ‘I do not judge anyone. I try to serve everyone,’” The Pope said. “There is one who judges, but He is a somewhat strange judge because the Lord both judges and forgives.”

Pope Francis has celebrated Holy Thursday Mass in a prison several times throughout his papacy.

It’s a tradition he began as the bishop of Buenos Aires but had to pause for a couple of years because of the pandemic.

Bishop Brennan’s 2023 Chrism Mass Homily

This is Bishop Robert Brennan’s full homily from the Diocese of Brooklyn’s 2023 Chrism Mass.

Last year I shared with you the story of my crozier – broken, mended and stronger – and how it reflects back to me precisely who I am – broken in my weakness and sin, mended through God’s mercy, and stronger for the experience of that mercy. With your indulgence, I will share a story about another crozier, not mine, and a story I have told in other circumstances so begging your further indulgence, I may repeat myself to some of you.

You see, in 2021, just before St. Patrick’s Day, a good friend of mine from Ireland sent me an article from the Irish secular press about St. Patrick in art. This particular piece focused in on stained glass windows in two Churches – one in Ireland and the other right in Columbus Ohio, in the Church of St. Patrick where I was to celebrate Mass that St. Patrick Day. The window tells the legend of the Saint baptizing the King of Cashel. There you see St. Patrick in all his Episcopal regalia and the king on one knee bowing reverently as Patrick pours the water. If you look carefully, you will see the king grimacing in pain. Look again more carefully and you will see the crozier of St. Patrick (in those days designed more authentically as a shepherd’s staff – complete with a pointed spike on the end meant to catch the ground when climbing the hills – planted firmly on the king’s feet.

The story goes that when all was done, and Patrick learned what happened he was mortified! He asked the king “Why didn’t you say something?”, to which the king replied, “I thought it was part of the ceremony! After all, didn’t you say that Baptism meant being conformed to Christ crucified and risen?”

Gathered today as the Church of Brooklyn and Queens here at the Co-cathedral for the Chrism Mass we celebrate the bonds of communion through that gift of Baptism by which we are all conformed to Christ, priest, prophet and king, living always as a member of his body sharing in his everlasting life. The Holy Oils used in the sacramental life of the Church will be blessed and sent forth from here to the parishes and schools in our local church. Today we pray for the priests of our diocese as they renew their promises of Ordination and they/we in turn are renewed by Christ for His service. Thank you one and all for your joyful and prayerful presence here this evening.

So, what then Fathers, does it mean to be conformed to Christ. Back in January of 2019, Pope Francis called together the bishops of the United States for retreat sending his own papal preacher the Father Raniero Cantelemesa to preach it. The theme Father Cantelemasa chose was “He appointed Twelve that they might be with him and send them forth to preach.” (Mark 3:14). Doesn’t that cover it for us as priests? To be with Jesus and to preach the Gospel – this is one way of expressing what it means for us as priests to be conformed to Christ.

Being with Jesus:

Let me quote Fr. Cantelemesa. “We know from the Gospels what “being with Jesus” meant to the Twelve. It involved leaving one’s home and work to follow him as he moved from place to place, and sharing everything with him: meals, rest, travels and hardships. In the biblical world, the teacher-disciple relationship was very different from what it is today. It involved more than just listening to lectures. The disciple actually went to spend quality time with the teacher; he learned the lessons from watching how the teacher lived. And that’s how it was for the apostles. Theirs was a “seminary on the move” because the Teacher didn’t have a fixed residence.”

How often has each of us spoken about the difference between knowing about Jesus and actually knowing Jesus. Our retreatmaster put it this way: Is Jesus for us just a personality, a celebrity, or is he a person we can talk with and enter into friendship. Unfortunately, for a vast majority of Christians, Jesus is a personality, not a person, a part of a set of dogmas and doctrines, one who we remember on an objective level as a piece of history. Is it any wonder there is a crisis of faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The root of any Eucharistic Revival has to be the rediscovery of Jesus as a real person and a meaningful encounter with him.

For us as priests, this encounter is crucial if your ministry is to be effective. How often in the Gospels do we see Jesus stepping away to pray, to be in communion with the Father. “Great crowds would assemble to listen and be cured – but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.” Jesus would withdraw to pray before taking on any major work or decision. Jesus calls us to that same communion – to be with him, to spend quality time with the teacher.

Father Cantelemasa tells a story about St. Bernard responding to the invitation of Pope Eugenius III to apply this lesson to the life of pastor of the Church – the Pope certainly got what he asked for:

Do not trust too much to your present dispositions; nothing is so fixed in the soul as not to decay […] I am afraid that you will despair of an end to the many demands that are made upon you and will become hardened. […] It would be much wiser to remove yourself from these demands even for a while, than to allow yourself to be distracted by them and led, little by little, where you certainly do not want to go. Where? To a hard heart […] This indeed is the state to which these accursed demands can bring you if you go on as you have begun, to devote yourself totally to them, leaving no time or energy for yourself […] Now, since everyone possesses you, make sure that you too are among the possessors […] Remember this and, not always, or even often, but at least sometimes give attention to yourself. Among the many others, or at least after them, do please have recourse to yourself.”

We need both formal time in prayer and to cultivate what Father Cantelmesa calls a prayer of “Desire”, something very deep; a habitual reaching for God; the yearning of the entire being, the longing for God, with the Risen Christ who promises to be with us always, until the end of the age.

I remember speaking about the importance of prayer in the life of a priest when someone objected: “But, Father, do you know how busy we priests are? How many demands are placed on us? When the house is on fire, how can we remain calm in prayer?” I answered: “You’re right, brother, but imagine this: firefighters get a call; there’s a fire. They race to the scene, with sirens blaring, but when they arrive, they realize that they have not even a drop of water in their tanks. When we neglect prayer, we have nothing with which to meet the needs of our people

Preaching the Gospel

This evening we hear the content of “preaching the Gospel of Jesus”.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Jesus returns to the Synagogue where he learned the scriptures and takes upon Himself the prophecy of Isaiah. Indeed, he will bring good news to the poor, liberty to those who are captive by the power of evil, sin and rejection, recovery of sight and freedom. This is the Gospel we preach when we preach Christ. But let’s be honest, Jesus calls us, not only to preach the content of the Gospel but to preach in the manner in which he did so. With simplicity of life, and profound respect for those who suffer and are rejected, Jesus empties himself, self-emptying love. We heard it on Sunday:

though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;

and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, walked with people, listened, engaged, encouraged, healed and called to conversion. He laid down his life for his sheep and He calls us to do the same.

In the first reading we find the full text of the prophecy Jesus quotes. There are two images that fascinate me: To place on those who mourn in Zion a diadem instead of ashes, to give them oil of gladness in place of mourning a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit.

Mourning, listless spirits – Jesus lifts the burdens by sharing the task of carrying them bestowing dignity and healing in the truth. How many listless spirits are out there, how many are mourning.

Being conformed to Christ involves being with the Lord and preaching His Gospel through simplicity of life and self-emptying love. I recollect these reflections with you brother priests, not in any judgment, but rather as a call to myself in these days of Holy Week. As I will ask all of you here present during the renewal of promises, I ask you to pray for me, that I may grow in this lifelong process of conversion, desiring more and more to be conformed to the Lord.

If anything, brother priest, a year and a half in, I come before you with profound gratitude, always inspired by your holiness, your love of Jesus and your desire to serve. If these thoughts can speak to you, terrific! We have many challenges together, but many joys. I welcome our jubilarians today: LIST

Last year I had the privilege of ordaining three priests: Father Andrew Tsiu, Father Vincent Vu, and Father Alex Olszecki. In June I look forward to ordaining 4 priests: Deacon Eusebius, Deacon Timothe, Deacon Ernesto and Deacon Samuel. And in the days to come we look forward to welcoming into our number through incardination Father Paul Anel, Father Alex, Father…. And Fr. Liju Agustine. We thank our senior priests who are retiring, and all our senior priests and we pray for those who have died.

Having the chance to speak TO the priests, may I speak for them. Thank you! Thanks to all of you, God’s faithful people whom we have the privilege to serve. Thank you for inspiring us, for inviting us into your lives, for encouraging us and for calling us to grow in our relationship with Christ.

We thank our deacons who collaborate with us. Thank you for your generous and authentic spirit of service. Visiting our parishes, I see the many fine ways you serve the parishes, the way you know the parishioners, the ways that you work both publicly and behind the scenes. Thank you. I really do look forward to future gatherings with the Order of Deacons to celebrate and renew your diaconal ministry. Thanks as well to your families. It will be a joy in May to ordain 21 new deacons for service in the Church in Brooklyn and Queens.

We have a wonderful legacy of religious life here in our diocese and our Religious can be found in all sorts of ministry and witness. I am always amazed at everything I see you doing today and grateful for the many apostolic works that have been handed on by the Religious Congregations.

And to all of you people of God who collaborate with us in our parishes and through the different movements. God continues to do amazing things here. Through Baptism we are indeed conformed to Christ, crucified and risen and we are sent forth. As we bless the Sacred Oils of the Catechumens, of the Sick, and Chrism we give thanks for Christ, present and living among us, sharing his life and sending us in mission.

Currents News: Tuesday, April 4, 2023 – The Chrism Mass

Hundreds of clergy, priests and deacons are coming together for one purpose: the blessing and consecration of the sacred oils. Tonight, a closer look. Where does the oil come from and how is it exactly used?

The Chrism Mass signals the beginning of Holy Week. Join Currents News for in-depth coverage of one of the most solemn services in the liturgical calendar.

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 04/03/2023

Bishop Robert Brennan led a procession through the streets of Brooklyn on Palm Sunday before celebrating Mass.

At the Vatican Pope Francis presided over Palm Sunday Mass in st Peter’s Square.

With Easter fast approaching, the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage will soon end. Meet the nun who’s been to more than 30 stops along the journey.

Bishop Brennan Leads Palm Sunday Procession During ‘Incredible Lent’

Bishop Robert Brennan commenced Holy Week on April 2 with a palm-waving procession through the streets of Brooklyn, followed by Mass and a suggestion for Catholics everywhere.

“My invitation this Palm Sunday is very simple,” he said. “Let’s try to make Holy Week, this week, a little bit different. We can keep on our busy schedules, and the pressures, and everything that keeps us running and running, or we can turn to the Lord.”

The bishop made his suggestion following an afternoon Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, the terminus of the Palm Sunday procession that began at 12:30 p.m. from Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Heights.

Palm Sunday, a week from Resurrection Sunday on Easter, celebrates and re-enacts Jesus’ entrance via donkey into Jerusalem.

In that scene, more than 2,000 years ago, people greeted Jesus by waving palms and arraying them on the donkey’s path. Palms are recognized as a symbol of victory and peace.

About 100 people participated in the half-mile procession beneath a brilliant sunny sky. They included St. Teresa of Avila Parish members, whose home church is the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.

A chilly wind buffeted the pilgrims as they gathered at Grand Army Plaza. Still, their joy was palpable as Bishop Brennan blessed their palm branches and prayed in Spanish. Next, the procession began with songs and chants, also in Spanish.

Diego Cervantes, a parishioner, completed his first Palm Sunday procession. His wife, Juana, and young children, Thiago and Berenice, came too.

“I am so happy because I’ve never seen this — all the people,” he said. “I like it.”

Soon the group turned onto Vanderbilt Avenue, where passing Brooklynites paused to watch.

“It was very moving to be surrounded by so many parishioners of the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, singing the praises of Jesus,” Bishop Brennan said. “People were out and about … and as we went by, many people stopped what they were doing to take it all in.

“Really, what we were doing in a very literal way today — walking down the streets of Brooklyn — was professing our faith, witnessing to what we believe. Isn’t that our test every day?”

During the homily, also in Spanish, Bishop Brennan gave a preview of the upcoming reading for Good Friday — Isaiah 53:5 — in which the prophet foretells the victory of Christ.

“But he was pierced for our sins,” the Scripture states, “crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.”

Bishop Brennan said he would spend the rest of the afternoon with Venezuelan Catholics for “El Nazareno de San Pablo” — a Holy Week devotion commemorating Jesus carrying his cross.

“These days,” he said, “I think of the crosses of those from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Peru, Nigeria, and all who suffer oppression, especially for faith.”

He noted the struggles of Venezuelan immigrants, who recently came to the U.S. to escape social and economic turmoil, suffering deadly encounters through Central America and Mexico.

“Many came here with nothing — absolutely nothing,” Bishop Brennan said. “They came to our churches, not just for help, but more to worship God and share in the life of the Church. They enrich our parishes, as the Hispanic community has done here in Brooklyn and Queens for years.”

Meanwhile, the bishop added, “Jesus invites us this week to accompany him on this path to Calvary. He always accompanies us and wants to show us the depth of his love. He knows our sorrows.

“But he also calls on us to bear witness to his way of doing things, as a sense of trust in God, trying to do what is right.”

In making this year’s Holy Week different, Bishop Brennan invited the congregation and Catholics everywhere “to be holy in truth.

“Come closer; stay close to Him who loves you more than you can imagine,” he said.

Bishop Brennan suggested reading from the Scriptures, including the story of the Last Supper and the passion of the Christ, praying the Stations of the Cross, saying the rosary, and participating in the Liturgy of the Word, either by attending Mass in person or by viewing Mass on NET-TV.

The start of Holy Week signaled the end of the first diocesan Lenten Pilgrimage. Catholics were encouraged to visit as many parishes as possible to meet new people, see churches new to them, and, most importantly, offer adoration to Christ.

“It’s really been an incredible Lent,” Bishop Brennan said. “And now we walk with Him in a spiritual way to Jerusalem, to Calvary. Remember that he’s always walking with us. So, we give thanks to Jesus, His fidelity, for walking with us.

“Now,” he concluded, “we contemplate the deepest mysteries of our faith: the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the gift of His life, given for us in the Eucharist.”

How an Invitation in 1982 Led to Sr. Mary Ann Ambrose’s Personal Pilgrimage

Sister Mary Ann Ambrose, Director of Faith Formation at St Ephrem’s Parish, has been making as many stops as she can along the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage. Sr. Mary Ann joins Currents News to discuss how this Lenten season is just a part of a greater journey she’s been on since the 1980s.

One Day After Leaving Hospital, Pope Leads Palm Sunday Mass

Despite being discharged from the hospital just a day earlier, Pope Francis presided over an outdoor Palm Sunday Mass in a brisk St. Peter’s Square, telling believers to embrace those who feel abandoned as Jesus did on the cross.

Pope Francis led the Mass from a chair in front of the main altar, while the vice dean of the Vatican’s College of Cardinals, fellow Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, celebrated at the altar.

By now, this mode of leading papal liturgies has become customary for Pope Francis, who suffers from sciatica and chronic knee pain, which for the past year have left him confined to a wheelchair or the use of a cane.

The 86-year-old pontiff was hospitalized on the afternoon of March 29 after experiencing breathing difficulties, which are especially alarming for Pope Francis as he had part of one lung removed after a severe bout of pneumonia when he was young.

Initially, the Vatican said Pope Francis had gone into Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for “previously planned check-ups.” However, it was later reported that the pope had experienced respiratory troubles and had gone to the hospital for tests.

He was admitted and diagnosed with a respiratory infection and bronchitis, an inflammation of the tubes that carry air to and from the lungs, which is usually caused by an infection. He received antibiotics administered intravenously and responded well to the treatment.

Pope Francis carried out light work duties while in the hospital and visited sick children in Gemelli’s pediatric oncology and infant neuro-surgery wards. He was discharged Saturday morning.

As he was leaving the hospital, a happy but tired-looking pope spoke briefly with reporters, telling them, “I’m still alive” when asked how he felt, and confirming his plans to participate in his Holy Week liturgies.

On Sunday, Pope Francis entered a roughly three-quarters full St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile and was driven to the obelisk at the center of the square, where he began Palm Sunday Mass. After the cardinals and other concelebrants processed to the main altar, the pope followed in his popemobile and spread incense on the altar before taking his seat.

In his homily, the pope, who spoke with a weak but clear voice, and who did not exhibit particular problems breathing, focused on Jesus’ declaration in the day’s lengthy Gospel reading, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”

He said the word “forsake” has a powerful meaning in the Bible and is used in “moments of extreme pain.”

These moments, he said, include “love that fails, or is rejected or betrayed; children who are rejected and aborted; situations of repudiation, the lot of widows and orphans; broken marriages, forms of social exclusion, injustice, and oppression; the solitude of sickness.

“In a word, in the drastic severing of the bonds that unite us to others. Christ brought all of this to the cross; upon his shoulders, he bore the sins of the world,” he said.

Asking believers why Jesus would do this, Pope Francis said it was done “in order to be completely and definitively one with us. So that none of us would ever again feel alone and beyond hope.”

Pope Francis periodically departed from his prepared text to offer some off-the-cuff remarks, telling the faithful at one point that “today this is not a show” and that “each one heard the abandonment of Jesus, (and) each one of us says, for me. This abandonment is the price he paid for me.

“Whenever you or I or anyone else seems pinned to the wall, lost in a blind alley, plunged into the abyss of abandonment, sucked into a whirlwind of ‘whys,’ there can still be hope. It is not the end because Jesus was there, and even now, he is at your side,” he said.

Pope Francis said God saves humanity from within their deepest “why?” and that from within that painful question, “he opens the horizon of hope.

“On the cross, even as he felt utter abandonment, Jesus refused to yield to despair; instead, he prayed and trusted,” he said, noting that Jesus commended himself to the hands of the Father after raising this question, meaning that “in the hour of his abandonment, Jesus continued to trust.”

Jesus also continued to love the disciples even though they had fled, leaving him alone, and he forgave those who crucified him, the pope said.

“Here we see the abyss of our evil immersed in a greater love, with the result that our isolation becomes fellowship, our distance becomes closeness, and our darkness becomes light. … We see who God truly is and how much he loves us,” he said.

This love, the pope said, can transform hearts of stone into hearts of tenderness and compassion, and it should inspire believers to love others who feel alone or abandoned in the same way that Jesus did.

“Christ, in his abandonment, stirs us to seek him and to love him and those who are themselves abandoned. For in them we see not only people in need, but Jesus himself, abandoned,” he said.

This, Pope Francis said, is why Jesus wants his followers to care for those “who resemble him most, those experiencing extreme suffering and solitude.”

Noting that there are many people in the world who are suffering, he recalled a homeless man who died under the colonnade in St. Peter’s Square several weeks ago and said that as pope, “I also need some caresses, some people close to me, and I go to find them in those who are abandoned, the castoffs.”

The number of people experiencing this suffering and loneliness today “are legion,” he said, adding, “entire peoples are exploited and abandoned; the poor live on our streets, and we look the other way; migrants are no longer faces but numbers; prisoners are disowned; people written off as problems.

“Countless other abandoned people are in our midst, invisible, hidden, discarded with white gloves: unborn children, the elderly who live alone, the sick whom no one visits, the disabled who are ignored, and the young burdened by great interior emptiness, with no one prepared to listen to their cry of pain,” he said.

In his own abandonment, Jesus asks believers to open their eyes and hearts “to all who find themselves abandoned,” Pope Francis said, insisting that for Christians, “no man, woman, or child can be regarded as an outcast, no one left to himself or herself.”

Calling those who are rejected and excluded “living icons of Christ,” Pope Francis said, “they remind us of his reckless love, his forsakenness that delivers us from every form of loneliness and isolation.

“Today, let us implore this grace: to love Jesus in his abandonment and to love Jesus in the abandoned all around us,” the pope said. “May we not allow his voice to go unheard amid the deafening silence of indifference. God has not left us alone; let us care, then, for those who feel alone and abandoned.”

Sr. Mary Ann Ambrose Aims to Reach the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage Goal Ahead of Easter

By Jessica Easthope

With Easter fast approaching, the Diocese of Brooklyn’s very first Lenten Pilgrimage is winding down. One woman is in the final stretch.

All during Lent she has been sacrificing her time and energy to make it to as many pilgrimages stops as possible.

With a spring in her step and good friends by her side, Sr. Mary Ann Ambrose is on her way toward accomplishing a goal. But, on the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage it’s not about the destination – but the journey.

In total, Sister Mary Ann, from St. Ephrem Parish, has been to more than 30 churches and she’s more energized now than ever.

“It has been amazing to be able to get around and visiting churches that I’ve been connected to in some way and there were many on the list,” she said.

Sr. Mary Ann has visited 32 parishes, and with her passport in hand, she enters the 33rd, St. Rita’s in Long Island City for the angelus prayer and a rosary. She comes with a crew, her good friends Carol LoPorto and Sr. Mary Sivillo.

“I’m 84, I’ve lived in Brooklyn my whole life, I thought I knew it all, I’ve had so many wonderful experiences,” Carol said. “I bring all my prayers, I pray for all of you and for everybody in the church when I come and so I think it’s been a wonderful praying experience for me,” said Sr. Mary.

And she’s met pilgrims along the way with a similar purpose.

“Brooklyn and Queens has a rich diversity of wonderful people who worship the Lord and we’ve gotten to meet each other,” said Sr. Mary Ann.

With each church – she’s reminded of moments throughout her 40 years in religious life. The stamps in her passport have come to represent something deeper and the pilgrimage has allowed her to reflect on Christ’s resurrection.

“I track on my Fitbit and my heart rate goes lowest when I sit in the church and just let go of the things of the day and just remember, isn’t that what Jesus is about, remember me,” she said.

She’s on a mission to get to as many churches as she can. At the end she’s hoping it’s a moment of glory, not for herself – but for Him.

There are just two more stops in this Lenten Pilgrimage before the Easter Triduum.

Pilgrims are going to St. Francis Of Paola Church from Divine Mercy Parish in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Tuesday April 4th, for more than 12 hours of spiritual activities.

They will then make their way to Holy Cross Church in Maspeth, Queens on Wednesday April 5th, to close out the Lenten journey.

Catholic News Headlines for Friday 3/31/2023

Pope Francis is expected to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow after being diagnosed and treated for bronchitis, just in time for Holy Week.

More than a month after a Los Angeles bishop was murdered in his home, there’s been a burglary there.

The vigils for the six people killed in the mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville continue as funeral services begin today.

More than a thousand Catholics filled the streets of Los Angeles to show their love for the Eucharist.

Pope Visits Pediatric Oncology Ward, Baptizes Infant

Pope Francis used his third day at Rome’s Gemelli hospital to visit children hospitalized in the oncology ward and to confer the sacrament of baptism on a tiny infant named Miguel Angel.

The child, who was just a few weeks old, was sleeping peacefully in a portable hospital bassinet as the pope and the mother prepared for the sacrament and medical staff looked on March 31. The Holy See press office provided a video of the baptism and other images of the pope’s visit to the pediatric ward.

The pope was given a small metal emesis basin filled with water. Reciting the baptismal formula in Spanish, he sprinkled the water with his hand on the baby, who loudly protested the sudden shower. He urged the mother to go ahead and try and comfort the infant while the pope made his own attempts by soothing the child’s face and tapping his mouth.

The pope wrote out by hand the baptismal certificate as seen in another image, which also showed the pope’s left wrist wrapped in gauze and an elastic bandage.

The pope spent about 30 minutes visiting the ward, bringing the children rosaries, large chocolate Easter eggs and copies of the book “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.”

The surprise visit came the day after the pope enjoyed a pizza “party” with staff on his second night at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

In the evening of March 30, “Pope Francis had dinner, eating pizza together with those assisting him throughout the days of his hospital stay,” that is, doctors, nurses, assistants and members of the Vatican police, the Vatican press office said March 31.

After breakfast on March 31, “he read some newspapers and resumed work,” it said.

Pope Francis was expected to be able to return to his Vatican residence April 1, the press office said, although the final decision would depend on the results of tests carried out early March 31.

Matteo Bruni, head of the press office, later confirmed the 86-year-old pope’s “presence” at the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square April 2.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, said, “With the pope at each celebration, there will be a cardinal celebrant who will be at the altar,” the Italian newspaper, La Repubblica reported March 31.

According to Cardinal Re, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri will be the main celebrant at the Palm Sunday Mass and Cardinal Re will be the main celebrant at Easter morning Mass, although the pope will read his traditional message and give his blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world).

According to Vatican press office reports, Pope Francis has been showing continued and “marked” improvement for what tests revealed was a case of bronchitis, after he was admitted to the hospital the afternoon of March 29 for breathing difficulties.

The pope was treated with intravenous antibiotics for the respiratory infection that was not COVID-19. The Vatican had said that the pope had complained of “some respiratory difficulties” in recent days.

The Vatican originally said the pope was taken to the hospital for “previously planned tests,” and later stated that he would remain at the hospital for a few days. Pope Francis’ scheduled meetings for March 30 and 31 had been canceled “to make room in his agenda for the tests to continue,” an official said.