For the first time in Pope John Paul's papacy, Holy Week services leading up to Easter began without the Pontiff and the faithful heard a cardinal compare the Pope's suffering to that of Christ.
At the end of the Palm Sunday ceremony, the Pope, who left hospital a week ago, appeared at his window overlooking St Peter's Square for less than two minutes. Looking gaunt and sitting, he waved an olive branch in the sign of the cross but did not speak.
Looking uncomfortable, he banged a glass lectern with his fist in what appeared to be a sign of frustration and was wheeled away. The brief, poignant appearance brought tears to the eyes of some people in the crowd of tens of thousands below.
During the ceremony before his appearance, the crowd of faithful waved palm and olive branches as symbols of peace as cardinals and bishops walked in procession. But the absence of the 84-year-old Pope, now in the 27th year of his papacy, hung heavy in the air.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for the Rome diocese, presided at the Mass on behalf of the Pope, who is recovering from a tracheotomy operation on his throat.
The Vatican said the Pontiff watched the mass on television.
In his sermon, Cardinal Ruini said the cross of Christ always offered new symbolism to the faithful and this year that symbol in suffering was the Pope himself.
The Pope has delegated nearly all Holy Week services to senior cardinals. Holy Week, which ends on Easter Sunday, is the busiest and most important period in the Church's liturgical calendar. He has even delegated next week's Easter Sunday Mass to a cardinal but is expected to deliver his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing.
It is not clear when the Pope will be able to resume his regular activities. J
ust before his appearance at the window an aide read a message to the crowd on the Pope's behalf. In it he mentioned the World Day of Youth to be held in Cologne, Germany in August. It is not clear if the Pope will be able to attend.