Pope Leo XIV began the Catholic Holy Week celebrations this Sunday with a call for peace in the Middle East and the world.
At 10:00 a.m. local time, the Holy Father presided over the Palm Sunday liturgical celebration in St. Peter’s Square. Also where he stated in his homily that “our God: Jesus, King of Peace” is “a God who rejects war. Whom no one can use to justify it. Who does not listen to the prayers of those who wage it.”
Christ rejects the prayers of warmongers “saying that, even if they multiply their supplications. I will not listen to them; their hands are full of blood,” and, from the cross, he asks them to “Have mercy! Lay down your weapons, remember that you are brothers!” the Bishop of Rome indicated, according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office.
The homily of the leader of the Catholic Church was a powerful call for peace. Highlighted a report published on the Vatican News website. Which noted that during the commemoration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the blessing of olive and palm branches. Also the pontiff delivered words that deeply moved those present.
After the proclamation of the Gospel, silence fell over the forty thousand people gathered in St. Peter’s Square to witness the celebration. Which this year took place amidst a complex international climate marked by an increase in armed conflicts, the report noted.
In the wounds of Jesus, as Leo XIV said, “we see the wounds of so many men and women today.” “In his final cry to the Father, we hear the cry of the downtrodden, the hopeless, the sick, the lonely. Above all, we hear the cry of pain of all those oppressed by violence and all the victims of war.”
At the end of Palm Sunday Mass, and shortly before reciting the Angelus, the Pope stated that “at the beginning of Holy Week. We are closer than ever in prayer to the Christians of the Middle East. Who are suffering the consequences of a terrible conflict.”
The Pope turned his thoughts to those who cannot celebrate these rites. As is the case in the Holy Land, given the climate of violence and the restrictions imposed precisely because of the war.
Yesterday, Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Ielpo. From entering the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre as they were heading to celebrate the traditional Palm Sunday Mass at the holiest site in Catholicism.
“While the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s Passion. We cannot forget those who today truly share in his suffering,” said Pope Leo XIV. He asked that “we raise our prayers” for “the peoples wounded by war” so that “concrete paths to reconciliation and peace may be opened.”
With information from Prensa Latina
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