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Pope Francis blesses palm branches as he ushers in Holy Week

Associated Press
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AP
Pope Francis holds a palm frond as he celebrates a Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 14, 2019.
1022787_web1_1022787-82ba98b6846544a7a5df451169c23e02
AP
Pope Francis asperses holy water as he celebrates Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 14, 2019. The Roman Catholic Church enters Holy Week, retracing the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection three days later on Easter Sunday.
1022787_web1_1022787-89c96dcc1300454b944f649a2d4f1260
AP
Pope Francis holds a palm frond as he celebrates Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 14, 2019. The Roman Catholic Church enters Holy Week, retracing the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection three days later on Easter Sunday.
1022787_web1_1022787-bdf0c8dd73164813b9c2d99285d51952
AP
Faithful holding olive branches walk in procession past St. Peter’s Basilica during a Palm Sunday Mass celebrated by Pope Francis, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 14, 2019.
1022787_web1_1022787-e95e6d7511154801949365341a7fc9d3
AP
Pope Francis asperses holy water as he celebrates Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 14, 2019. The Roman Catholic Church enters Holy Week, retracing the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection three days later on Easter Sunday.
1022787_web1_1022787-4b5aaf34dc7249428cfc0504d9fb8a38
AP
Pope Francis arrives to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 14, 2019. The Roman Catholic Church enters Holy Week, retracing the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection three days later on Easter Sunday.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis warned against being judgmental and too full of oneself, including authorities in the Catholic church, in his Palm Sunday homily during Mass in St. Peter’s Square, which was crowded with tens of thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans.

The day ushers in Holy Week, which will include Way of the Cross processions around the world to commemorate the Passion, or suffering, of Jesus on Good Friday and his death by crucifixion.

Palm Sunday services recall the cries and gestures of triumph by onlookers when Jesus entered Jerusalem. But not long after, according to the New Testament, the public’s mood changed, and Jesus was arrested, mocked, scourged and executed.

“Festive acclamations and brutal torture: the silence of Jesus throughout his Passion is profoundly impressive,” Francis said in his homily.

The pope cautioned against the temptation of “triumphalism,” which he said feeds itself by “looking askance at others and constantly judging them inferior, wanting, failures.”

Francis added that “one subtle form of triumphalism is spiritual worldliness, which represents the greatest danger, the most treacherous temptation threatening the church.” He recommended humility as a way to counter such temptations.

The Catholic church in the last decades has been rocked by revelations of pedophilia and other sex abuse by clergy and often systematic cover-ups of that by its hierarchy. The scandals have engulfed even bishops and cardinals and shaken the trust of countless rank-and-file faithful in the church.

Sprinkling holy water, Francis blessed palm fronds and olive branches clutched by pilgrims, tourists and Romans before Mass began. He watched from steps at the foot of the obelisk in the center of the square as prelates, holding dried, braided palms, formed a circle around him. Then, cradling a braided palm, he joined a solemn procession to a canopied altar set up outside St. Peter’s Basilica.

Francis also invited people to pray for peace, especially in the Holy Land and the Middle East.

By the end of Mass, sunshine gave way to a soft, light rain and the crowd had swelled to 50,000 people, according to security officials. Francis, after removing his red robes, was driven in his white popemobile so he could wave to the crowd.

Holy Week culminates in joyous celebrations on Easter Sunday as Christians celebrate their belief that Jesus rose from the dead.

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