A recovering Pope Francis visits Rome prison to keep annual Holy Week appointment

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis visited Rome's central prison Thursday and met with dozens of inmates as he kept an Easter season appointment to spend Holy Thursday among the least fortunate, even as he continues recovering from a life-threatening bout of pneumonia.

Francis met for nearly a half-hour with some 70 inmates at the Regina Caeli prison in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood. It’s a prison Francis has visited before to perform the annual Holy Thursday ritual of washing the feet of 12 people to re-enact Christ’s gesture of humble service of washing the feet of 12 apostles before his crucifixion.

Francis told the inmates he couldn’t do it this year, given his health, but wanted to nevertheless be with them and “do what Jesus did on Holy Thursday."

The fact that the 88-year-old pope kept the appointment, when he is under doctors’ orders to take it easy and avoid crowds, was a clear sign of the importance he places on prison ministry and the need for priests to serve those most on the margins. That is all the more true during the 2025 Holy Year, which both opened and will close with special papal events for prison inmates.

“Every time I enter one of these places, I ask myself: ‘Why them and not me?’” Francis told reporters outside the prison in his first off-the-cuff comments since he got sick.

Francis is expected to make at least some other Easter-time appearances over the coming days, even as cardinals will preside in his place during Holy Week's busy events. He made a surprise cameo at the end of Palm Sunday Mass last weekend and in recent days has made some unannounced visits — including one in which he wasn’t dressed in his papal white cassock — to pray in St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Mary Major basilica across town.

By all indications he is continuing to improve after his five-week hospital stay and is slowly resuming some of his normal activities. In recent outings, including on Thursday, he has been seen without the nasal tubes that provide supplemental oxygen and Vatican officials say he is increasingly less reliant on the therapy.

Asked Thursday how he was doing and marking this year's Easter season, Francis said in a weak voice: “I am living it as I can.”

On Wednesday, Francis held his first formal group audience since returning to the Vatican on March 23, meeting with the medical staff of the Gemelli hospital who cared for him during his 38-day stay. Gathered in a Vatican audience hall, Francis thanked the 70-plus doctors, nurses and administrators and asked them for their continued prayers.

“Thank you for everything you did,” Francis said, his voice still labored but seemingly stronger as he continues respiratory and physical therapy.

Francis has delegated the demanding Holy Week liturgical celebrations to hand-picked cardinals, but the Vatican says the pope himself composed the meditations that will be read aloud by others during the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession on Friday night at Rome’s Colosseum.

Easter Sunday Mass has been assigned to the retired administrator of St. Peter’s, Cardinal Angelo Comastri.

It remains to be seen how Francis will handle Easter Sunday’s traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (Latin for “to the city and the world”) speech and blessing after Mass. Normally the pope delivers a sometimes lengthy discourse on the state of the world from the loggia of St. Peter’s, and then imparts a special blessing to the faithful in the piazza below. In theory someone else could read the speech while Francis could impart the blessing.

Francis was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 with bronchitis that quickly developed into a life-threatening case of double pneumonia. Upon his release March 23, doctors prescribed two months of convalescence at the Vatican with daily respiratory and physical therapy to improve his breathing and vocal function. With time, they have predicted he will be able to resume his normal activities.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Francis leaves in a car at the end of his visit on Holy Thursday to the Regina Coeli penitentiary in Rome, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti presides over a mass inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican on Holy Thursday to commemorate Christ¥s Last Supper before his crucifixion, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis meets with inmates during his visit to the Regina Coeli penitentiary in Rome on Holy Thursday, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Holy See Press Office via AP, HO)

Pope Francis waves at inmates behind a closed gate during his visit to the Regina Coeli penitentiary in Rome on Holy Thursday, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)

Cardinals attend the Chrism Mass presided over by Delegate of the Holy Father Cardinal Domenico Calcagno inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, April 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis meets with inmates during his visit to the Regina Coeli penitentiary in Rome on Holy Thursday, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)

Pope Francis leaves in a car at the end of his visit on Holy Thursday to the Regina Coeli penitentiary in Rome, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis talks to journalists as he leaves at the end of his visit to the Regina Coeli penitentiary in Rome on Holy Thursday, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A car with Pope Francis enters the Regina Coeli penitentiary in Rome on Holy Thursday, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A car with Pope Francis enters the Regina Coeli penitentiary in Rome on Holy Thursday, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Cardinals attend the Chrism Mass presided over by Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Prelates attend the Chrism Mass presided over by Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Prelates attend the Chrism Mass presided over by Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, presides over the Chrism Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno presides over the Chrism Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Cardinals attend the Chrism Mass presided over by Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Cardinals attend the Chrism Mass presided over by Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A Swiss Guard attends the Chrism Mass presided over by Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, center, blows inside an amphora containing holy oil during a Chrism Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, presides over the Chrism Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Cardinals attend the Chrism Mass on Ash presided by Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno at the St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Cardinals attend the Chrism Mass on Ash presided by Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno at the St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A Swiss Guard attends the Chrism Mass on Ash presided by Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno at the St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Domenico Calcagno presides over the Chrism Mass on Ash St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, April. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis arrives at the end of the mass on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis arrives at the end of the mass on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis arrives at the end of the mass on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis arrives at the end of the mass on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis arrives at the end of the mass on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis arrives at the end of the mass on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Friday celebrated the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, as President Vladimir Putin presided over a massive parade of tanks, missiles and troops through Red Square and welcomed over two dozen world leaders — the most since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.

Victory Day, which Russia marks on May 9, is the country’s most important secular holiday. The parade and other festivities underline Moscow’s efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that is grinding through a fourth year.

Friday’s parade was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and drew the most global leaders to Moscow in a decade, including high-profile guests like Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sat next to Putin, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Their attendance underscored how Putin has tried to emphasize the failure of the West to turn Russia into a global pariah.

“It’s again showing that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is seen as a very legitimate victorious nation that is among victors in World War II,” said Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.

"Russia is standing tall among the so-called global majority,” Gabuev said, adding that the attendance of Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico showed that “Russia has allies even within the Western camp” and marked a major public relations victory for Putin.

World War II is a rare event in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.

Addressing the crowd in Red Square, Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that “we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory.”

Putin, who has ruled Russia for 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify his action in Ukraine.

For Putin, Victory Day celebrations have become "a civic religion that boosts patriotism, nationalism, nostalgia, and justifies both his repressive regime at home and Russia’s increasingly expansionist foreign policy abroad, particularly including towards its neighbors,” Gabuev said.

The parade featured over 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia's nuclear might, huge Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles launchers rolled across Red Square. Also among the weaponry on display were drones carried on military trucks, a tribute to their pivotal role in the conflict.

Fighter jets of Russian air force's aerobatic teams flew by in close formation, followed by jets that trailed smoke in the colors of the national flag.

Afterward, Putin shook hands with Russian generals who led the troops onto Red Square and spoke to medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them.

Last month, Putin thanked North Korea for fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed its deployment for the first time.

The Russian and North Korean statements emphasized their expanding military partnership, especially after Russia said its troops have fully reclaimed the Kursk region that Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last year. Ukraine denied the claim.

After the parade, Putin hosted foreign leaders at a Kremlin reception and sat down with Lula for a bilateral meeting. More sessions were planned, officials said.

Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump exchanged “warm words” and “congratulations on the occasion of our common holiday” through their aides, the Russian leader's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told state Channel One TV.

Victory Day festivities this year were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital’s airports. Aeroflot on Wednesday canceled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, and delayed over 140 others as the military repelled Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.

Russian authorities tightened security ahead of the parade and cellphone internet outages were reported amid electronic countermeasures aimed at foiling more potential drone attacks.

Military parades and other festivities were also held in scores of other cities across Russia amid tight security. As a historic tribute, Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg symbolically regained its Soviet-era name of Leningrad for a day Friday and Volgograd temporarily reverted to Stalingrad, as it was known during World War II.

Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7 to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations, but warned that Russian troops would retaliate to any attacks. Moscow has been reluctant to accept a U.S.-proposed 30-day truce that Ukraine has accepted, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies to Ukraine and Kyiv’s mobilization effort, conditions Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected.

Ukrainian authorities reported scores of Russian strikes Friday that killed at least two people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and damaged buildings. A Russian drone also struck a civilian vehicle in Zaporizhzhia, critically injuring a man and also wounding his wife.

As the parade and other festivities unfolded in Moscow, dozens of European officials met in Lviv, in western Ukraine, to endorse the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials accused of war crimes.

“Russia needs to feel our common and, most importantly, growing strength,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, addressing the Lviv meeting. He emphasized the need for Russia to be held accountable, adding that “this is the moral duty of Europe and of everyone in the world who values human life.”

“I’m sure that this tribunal will allow for the fight against impunity against all war crimes that have been committed during this war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.

Russian authorities have fiercely denied allegations of war crimes. Asked about the tribunal on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow "will not be reacting to this.”

Barrot also said European allies have agreed on another package of sanctions against Russia.

Standing alongside top Ukrainian government officials in Lviv, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the tribunal's launch will mean that “nobody can be left unpunished for the crimes committed."

Most of Europe marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II on May 8.

BRM-1K reconnaissance vehicles roll along Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II.Maxim Bogodvid/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

People carry portraits of relatives who fought in World War II, during the Immortal Regiment march at the Nevsky prospect, the central avenue of St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Chinese President Xi Jinpin, left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, centre, Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon, right, and President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso, centre right, attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden after the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov is driven along Red Square in an Aurus car during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexander Wilf/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

From second right: Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow, Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinpin watch the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Sergei Bobylev/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

Russian servicemen take part in the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Maxim Bogovid/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow arrives in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, for celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Mikhail Voskresensky/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, left, arrives to attend a working lunch with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the The Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin's Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 8, 2025, ahead of celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, ahead of the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

President of Russia Vladimir Putin, right, and President of China Xi Jinping talk during a dinner on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation for heads of foreign delegations in the Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Thursday, May 8, 2025, ahead of celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Sergey Bobylev/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)

Military troops stand in formation in Red Square before the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexey Maishev/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)