He stopped occasionally to bless babies brought up to him, a scene that was common in the past but unthinkable just a few weeks ago as the 88-year-old Francis fought for his life.

“Brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!” Francis said, his voice sounding stronger than it has since his hospitalisation.

Francis didn’t celebrate the Easter Mass in the piazza, delegating it to Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the retired archpriest of St Peter’s Basilica.

But after the Mass ended, Francis appeared on the loggia balcony over the basilica entrance for more than 20 minutes and imparted the apostolic blessing in Latin. The thousands of people below erupted in cheers as a military band kicked off rounds of the Holy See and Italian anthems.

Francis waved from the balcony as a Vatican archbishop read aloud his speech, a global appeal for peace in the world’s hotspots that is the hallmark of the Vatican’s Easter celebrations.

In all, he was outside on a sunny spring day for about 50 minutes, with temperatures at 21 degrees in a piazza awash in daffodils, tulips and other flowers donated by the Netherlands for Easter.

On his way to the basilica, Francis met briefly in his hotel with US Vice President JD Vance, who was spending Easter in Rome with his family. The Vatican said the encounter lasted just a few minutes and was designed to allow for an exchange of Easter greetings.

Francis has only appeared in public a handful of times since returning to the Vatican on March 23 after a 38-day hospital stay. He skipped the solemn services of Good Friday and Holy Saturday leading up to Easter, but he had been expected to make an appearance on Sunday.

Easter is the most joyful moment on the Christian liturgical calendar, when the faithful celebrate the resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion. This year, Easter is being celebrated on the same day by Catholics and Orthodox Christians, and has been marked by Russia’s announced temporary Easter truce in its war in Ukraine.

Easter at the Vatican traditionally involves a Mass and the pope’s Urbi et Orbi blessing (Latin for “to the city and the world”), a papal speech delivered from the loggia which is usually a roundup of global hotspots and human suffering.

In the speech, read by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of liturgical ceremonies, Francis appealed for peace in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as Congo and Myanmar and in other hotspots.

“May the risen Christ grant Ukraine, devastated by war, his Easter gift of peace, and encourage all parties involved to pursue efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace,” the message said.

“In this Jubilee year, may Easter also be a fitting occasion for the liberation of prisoners of war and political prisoners!”

Francis has sharply cut back his workload as he follows doctors’ orders of two months of convalescence and respiratory therapy to improve his lung function.

He still seems to require great effort to project his voice, and his breathing remains laboured. But it sounded stronger than it has to date in the few words he uttered from the loggia.

Before Sunday, his biggest outing had been a visit to Rome’s downtown prison to spend Holy Thursday with inmates.

The visit made clear his priorities as he slowly recovers: to spend time with the people most on the margins.