Not long before what would turn out to be his final public appearance, a blessing of the crowds who had gathered for Easter Sunday mass in St Peter’s Square and an unexpected popemobile tour of the piazza, Pope Francis received a devout if perhaps unlikely visitor.

The pope had been hospitalized for five weeks after surviving a severe case of pneumonia.

Vice President Vance on Monday responded to Pope Francis’s death, noting their meeting at the Vatican one day earlier.

And for only the second time since leaving hospital on March 23, the pope also met on Sunday with foreign leaders, welcoming US Vice President JD Vance to his residence for a brief encounter.