©Reuters. Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, March 24, 2024. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
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By Filippo Pullella
(Reuters) – Pope Francis skipped reading the homily at the last minute during Palm Sunday Mass in front of tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, but continued to preside over the service and read the midday prayer and was driven around the crowd in the popemobile. .
In recent weeks the 87-year-old Pope has suffered at times from bronchitis and flu and has delegated an assistant to read his speeches for him, but on Sunday the prepared text was not read at all.
It is very unusual for a pope to completely skip a homily on the occasion of an important event such as Palm Sunday, which marks the start of Holy Week, a busy period leading up to Easter.
The Vatican gave no immediate explanation as to why the pope skipped the homily. Vatican television showed only the crowd for a few minutes, instead of the pope in the foreground.
A Vatican Radio announcer later said the pope had decided not to read the homily. The pope, dressed in red vestments, continued to preside, reading parts of the mass.
Cardinals, priests and bishops took part in the service commemorating what the Bible says was Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, days before he was betrayed, tried and executed by crucifixion.
The clerics, along with participants in a crowd estimated by Vatican police to number around 60,000, held palm fronds and olive branches during the service.
Francis has a knee ailment and for more than a year has presided over masses sitting near the altar while a cardinal serves as the main celebrant.
After the mass, Francis said the weekly Sunday Angelus and blessing from the altar and not from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking the square. This is not unusual on large occasions.
In his prayer, he condemned the attack that killed at least 133 people in a concert hall near Moscow as a cowardly and inhuman act that offends God.
He again asked for prayers for all those suffering from wars, mentioning Ukraine and Gaza.
At the end of the service, Francesco was taken around the square in an open vehicle. He waved and smiled at the people in the crowd and didn’t seem to encounter any difficulty.