Vatican City ? Millions waited to hear him but waited in vain. And some cried as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder in St. Peter’s Square.

For the first time in his long papacy, John Paul II fell silent throughout Holy Week, able only to make a few unintelligible sounds when he tried to speak Easter Sunday.

In the end, the pontiff managed only to greet the saddened crowd with a sign of the cross.

Aides had readied a microphone, and the pope tried to utter a few words from his studio window overlooking the square. But after issuing only a few guttural sounds, he just blessed the crowd with his hand and the microphone was taken away.

Vatican watchers had been anxiously awaiting John Paul’s appearance for signs of how the 84-year-old pontiff was faring after Feb. 24 surgery to insert a tube in his throat to help him breathe. After the dramatic appearance, many in the crowd cried or applauded in sad appreciation for John Paul’s pained efforts to greet them on the holiest day of the church calendar.

John Paul last spoke to the public March 13, shortly before he was discharged from the hospital.

For the first time since John Paul’s papacy began in 1978, Easter Sunday Mass at the Vatican was celebrated without him as he continued his convalescence following two recent hospitalizations for breathing crises. John Paul also suffers from Parkinson’s disease and knee and hip ailments.

As a result of his infirmities, the pope missed participating in all major Holy Week events and designated top cardinals to stand in for him.

On Sunday, it fell to the Vatican’s No. 2 official, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, to celebrate Easter Mass.

In this photo made available by the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, Pope John Paul II follows the Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square from his studio at the Vatican. For the first time since John Paul II's papacy began in 1978, Easter Sunday Mass at the Vatican was celebrated without him.

John Paul appeared at his window after the service ended, drawing applause from the crowd. He coughed at first, but remained at the window for 12 minutes.

He had papers on his lectern and turned the pages himself, following along as Sodano read his Easter message in the square below.

At the end of the message, a microphone was put in front of him and John Paul touched it as if readying to impart the papal blessing. After trying to utter the words, the pope rested his hands on the lectern in apparent resignation that he could not speak and the microphone was taken away. Soon after, John Paul withdrew from the window.