Pope Francis returned to public view on Saturday, presiding over Easter vigil mass in St Peter’s Basilica, a day after unseasonably chilly weather in Rome pushed the recently ailing pontiff to skip Good Friday’s night-time procession at the Colosseum. The evening basilica service began in darkness. Then the basilica’s cavernous interior was suddenly bathed in light, reflecting the Christian beliefs that Jesus rose from his death by crucifixion and that goodness can triumph over evil. The 86-year-old pope is recovering from bronchitis after being recently hospitalised for three days. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people are expected to join the pope in St Peter’s Square for Easter mass for his speech about global conflicts at the end of Holy Week. At the start of the Easter vigil, Francis, who arrived in a wheelchair he uses to cope with knee pain, incised into the wax of a tall candle a cross, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet – alpha and omega – and the numerals of this year. The lit candle was then carried by a cleric up the basilica’s centre aisle, past darkened pews. Dozens of cardinals and other prelates followed, each carrying a smaller, lit candle. “The church calls upon her sons and daughters, scattered throughout the world, to come together to watch and pray,” Francis said, beginning the service. The basilica mass during the vigil of Christianity’s most important day has become an occasion for pontiffs to baptise adults from around the world. This year eight believers from Albania, the US, Nigeria, Italy and Venezuela were selected to be baptised, the Vatican said.