After leaving the Agostino Gemelli Hospital in Rome yesterday after a four-day stay, Pope Francis celebrated the liturgical celebration of Palm Sunday as the start of Holy Week this morning. The Pope arrived in St. Peter’s Square in a car and got out near the obelisk to perform the rite of blessing the olive branches in front of thousands of faithful.
Olive branches and floral decorations
Francis wore a white cloak over which he wore the red stole for the blessing liturgy. The pilgrims gathered in Rome waved olive branches in greeting. These commemorate the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. A procession of about 100 young people, bishops and cardinals marched on St. Peter’s Square to the altar in front of St. Peter’s Basilica.
There the Pope celebrated Mass together with the Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri. The Pope reached the altar on foot with the help of a cane. The square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica was decorated with flowers from the Netherlands. In the days leading up to the celebration, thousands of chairs were set up for visitors.
Beginning of “Holy Week”
Around 1.7 billion Catholic and Protestant Christians around the world begin “Holy Week” on Palm Sunday, the high point of the church year. On the Sunday before Easter, palm branches are traditionally carried in the church procession, blessed with holy water and then placed behind crucifixes in the houses.
