Still recovering, Pope Francis visits prison in Rome

Francisco was received with applause by the guards and employees of the installation when the assistants took their wheelchair inside, shortly after 15h (10am from Brasilia).

As with his two latest public appearances, the Pope was breathing on his own, without the help of oxygen pipes.

Francisco remained in prison for about half an hour. The Vatican reported that he met with a group of about 70 detainees. “I wanted to be close to you,” he said, according to the Vatican. “I pray for you and your families.”

The Catholic Church celebrates this Thursday on Holy Thursday, the day of the last supper of Jesus with his apostles the night before his death. It is the first of four days of celebrations that lead to Easter, the most important Christian holiday on Sunday.

Francisco, Pope since 2013, has visited arrests throughout his papacy, often on Holy Thursday.

Regina Coeli, a former 17th -century monastery in the Trastevere tourist neighborhood, is mainly a men’s prison. It currently houses about 1,100 prisoners, almost double its official capacity of 628 detainees, according to the Italian Ministry of Justice.