Pope Francis joined Christians over the world to celebrate Palm Sunday, a Christian moveable feast before Easter.
Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem in the time leading to his crucifixion, which Christians observe on Good Friday.
The Sunday opened a heavy schedule of Holy Week appointments for the pontiff, including a Holy Thursday Mass at a juvenile prison in Rome.
Holy Week culminates on April 9 with Easter Sunday Mass, which recalls the Christian belief in Jesus’ resurrection.
Pope Francis led a Palm Sunday service the day after he was discharged from hospital following a bout of bronchitis, and urged the world to take better care of the poor, the lonely and the infirm.
Thousands of people waved palm and olive branches as Francis was driven into St. Peter’s Square sitting in the back of a white, open-topped vehicle before the start of the Mass, which lasted two hours.
“I thank you for your participation and also for your prayers, which intensified during these past days. Thank you,” he said at the end of the service in an apparent reference to his recent illness, drawing loud applause from the crowd.
The pope, 86, was taken to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Wednesday after complaining of breathing difficulties, but recovered quickly following an infusion of antibiotics and returned to his Vatican residence on Saturday.
Looking to allay concerns about his health, the Vatican has said he will take part in a full array of Easter events this week, the busiest period in the Roman Catholic Church calendar, starting with the open-air Palm Sunday service.
The pontiff, wearing red vestments, spoke with a quiet, but clear voice as he addressed a crowd estimated by police to be 60,000-strong. For most of the service he remained seated, but he stood at the end for a final blessing.
In his homily he called on people not to ignore those experiencing great suffering and solitude.
“Today their numbers are legion. Entire peoples are exploited and abandoned; the poor live on our streets and we look the other way; migrants are no longer faces but numbers, prisoners are disowned; people written off as problems,” he said.
The homily focused on moments when people feel “extreme pain, love that fails, or is rejected or betrayed.” Francis cited “children who are rejected or aborted,” as well as broken marriages, “forms of social exclusion, injustice and oppression, (and) the solitude of sickness.”
Deviating from his prepared speech, Francis spoke about a homeless German man who recently died, “alone, abandoned,” under the colonnade circling St. Peter’s Square, where homeless persons often sleep.
“I, too, need Jesus to caress me,” Francis said.
His voice sounded strong as he opened the Mass, but quickly turned strained. Despite the hoarseness, Francis read a 15-minute-long homily, occasionally adding off-the-cuff remarks for emphasis or gesturing with a hand.
Concern over abandonment threaded through his homily. “Entire peoples are exploited and abandoned; the poor live on our streets and we look the other way; migrants are no longer faces but numbers; prisoners are disowned, people written off as problems,” Francis said.
The sun broke through the clouds during the Mass, one of the longest services on the Church’s calendar, as Francis, red vestments placed over his coat, sat in a chair under a canopy erected in the square.
He took his place there after standing and clutching a braided palm branch in a popemobile that drove at the tail end of a long, solemn procession of cardinals, other prelates and rank-and-file Catholics. Each participant carried palm fronds or olive tree branches.
Francis received antibiotics administered intravenously during his three-day stay. His last previous appearance in St. Peter’s Square saw him conduct his his regular Wednesday public audience. He was taken to Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic that same day after feeling ill.
Pope Francis discharged from hospital
Pope Francis was released from Hospital following a brief hospital stay that involved scheduled tests and treatment for bronchitis on Saturday.
While leaving, he jokingly told journalists before being driven away: “I’m still alive.”
Francis, 86, was hospitalized on Wednesday at Gemelli Polyclinic after reportedly having breathing difficulties following his weekly public audience. The pontiff was treated with antibiotics administered intravenously, the Vatican said.
The Vatican said that before departing, Francis hugged a couple whose daughter died Friday night at the hospital.
Francis sat in the front seat of the white Fiat 500 car that drove him away from Gemelli Polyclinic.
The pontiff’s hospitalization has led to worldwide concern about the pope’s health. In a Friday statement, however, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said that Francis’ recovery had been “normal.”
“Yesterday (went) well, with a normal clinical recovery,” Bruni said. On Thursday evening “Pope Francis had dinner, eating a pizza, together with all those who are assisting him in these days of the hospital stay.”
Annamaria Montio, a physiotherapist student at Gemelli, told the New York Times that Francis was in good hands at the hospital.
“I am sure he’s going to make it – he has such a strong spirit,” Montio told the outlet.’’
(With reports from Reuters)
