VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis is expected to delight Catholics all over the world during Easter celebrations at the Vatican on Sunday, just weeks after he was fighting for his life in hospital while suffering from pneumonia.
The ailing 88-year-old pontiff has been recovering from his health ordeal since leaving hospital on March 23, having spent 38 days receiving treatment.
He is expected to deliver the "Urbi et Orbi" benediction from a balcony overlooking Saint Peter's Square from midday on Sunday in what is the most important Christian celebration.
The Holy See's press service has let it be known that Francis would likely be present for the Easter Sunday events, but without actually confirming his participation, insisting that it depends on his health.
His voice remains weak, despite improvements in his breathing, which have seen Francis appear in public twice over the last week without the nasal cannula through which he has been receiving oxygen.
He may delegate the reading of his Easter text -- in which he usually reflects on conflicts and crises around the world -- to someone else.
For the first time since his election in 2013, the spiritual leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics 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 at Saint Peter's on Saturday as he greeted visitors.
Some 300 cardinals, bishops and priests will attend Sunday's Easter mass -- which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ -- at Saint Peter's Square, which will be decorated with thousands of flowers.
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.