While celebrating Palm Sunday mass in Saint Peter's Square this Sunday, March 24, Pope Francis did not pronounce the text of his homily.
He still continued to preside over the celebration, which marks the entry of the Church into the liturgical season of Holy Week, during which the faithful commemorate the passion of Christ before celebrating the resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Journalists accustomed to covering the Vatican highlighted the unusual nature of the event.
The text of the homily had been written in advance, as usual, and distributed to the press in eight different languages, reports the permanent special envoy of
La Croix
to the Holy See, Loup Besmond de Senneville.
But the pope did not stand after the reading of the Gospel of the Passion to deliver his homily, nor was the text read by a concelebrating priest.
Customary dictates, the journalist specifies, that this text is considered as having never existed, because only the delivered version of the homily is authentic.
It is also not uncommon for Pope Francis to deviate from his notes, as he did in August during his visit to the sanctuary of Fatima, during WYD.
Despite his choice not to deliver a homily, which was not subsequently explained by the communications services of the Holy See, Pope Francis continued the celebration of the mass in front of a crowd of 60,000 people, according to a count of the Vatican gendarmerie, and in the presence of 30 cardinals, 25 bishops and more than 350 priests.
Prayer for the victims of the attack in Moscow
At the end of the Mass, the Holy Father addressed his prayers in a weak and hesitant voice to the victims of the
“cowardly”
deadly attack which targeted a concert hall near Moscow, denouncing
“inhuman acts”
.
“I assure of my prayers the victims of the cowardly terrorist attack perpetrated the other evening in Moscow
,” he said, adding:
“May the Lord welcome them in his peace, may he comfort their families and may he converts the hearts of those who organize and carry out these inhuman actions which offend God, who has commanded 'Thou shalt not kill'”
.
Also read: What is Holy Week, the last phase of Lent for Christians before Easter
Pope Francis, however, appeared in good spirits after the mass, smiling and waving to the crowd from his
“Papamobile”
which toured St. Peter's Square.
The 87-year-old pontiff caught the flu last month and subsequently asked others to read his texts during his appearances.
He has suffered from a number of health problems in recent years, including knee and hip pain, an inflamed colon and a hernia operation last year.