The Pope celebrated Mass on Palm Sunday, a day that evokes the moment when Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem, in a crowded St. Peter's Square, but he preferred not to deliver the homily he had prepared for the occasion.
Instead, Francis has opted for a long minute of silence, so that the faithful could reflect on the Gospel of the Passion and Death of Christ.
At the opening of the ceremony, as reported by the EFE agency, the pontiff had shown a tired voice. And it was at the end of the reading of the Gospel, which precedes the homily, that a prolonged silence was maintained after which we went directly to the creed.
According to the liturgy of the Catholic Church, delivering the homily is optional during Palm Sunday; in fact, if it is pronounced, priests are asked to keep it brief. However, it is the first time that the pontiff has not delivered the Palm Sunday homily, which marks the beginning of Holy Week for the Catholic Church.
At the moment, the Vatican Press Office has not reported the pontiff's reasons why he concelebrated the mass with Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
For more than three weeks, since he suffered from the flu, Pope Francis has been maintaining his agenda although he has not been able to do some readings since he gets tired from reading long speeches.
Last Wednesday, during the general audience, Francis did not read the prepared catechesis and instead a collaborator did so because, he stated: "I still can't," in reference to the respiratory problems he is experiencing.
To find another time in recent Church history in which a Pope has not delivered the Palm Sunday homily, we must go back to March 2005, when John Paul II was unable to celebrate the Palm Sunday mass due to his problems. health, although that day he looked out the window of his study in the Vatican.
After the mass, during the Angelus prayer after the Palm Sunday mass, Pope Francis did speak out to condemn the "vile terrorist attack" last Friday in Moscow that caused at least 133 deaths and which he described as "an inhuman act that offends God".
"I assure you of my prayers for the victims of the vile terrorist attack perpetrated the other night in Moscow. May the Lord welcome them in peace and comfort their families," the pontiff said before the more than 25,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
Francis also expressed his hope that "it will convert the hearts of those who protect, who organize and carry out these inhuman acts that offend God, who commanded 'Thou shalt not kill.'"
The pope's call coincides with the day of mourning that Russia is experiencing today for the victims of the attack on the popular Crocus City Hall concert hall, on the outskirts of Moscow.
