VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Just as the crowds and government officials tried to dodge responsibility for Jesus’ fate after he was arrested, so today too many individuals and countries want someone else to care for refugees fleeing violence and migrants seeking a better life, Pope Francis said. For each refugee returned, one who has not left Turkey should be resettled in the European Union. Thousands of Catholics waving olive branches and braided palm fronds received his blessing.
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Before celebrating an outdoor Mass, Francis led a procession through St. Peter’s Square to usher in Holy Week, the solemn period leading to Easter.
Palm Sunday recalls a crowd’s triumphant welcome of Jesus entering Jerusalem.
Pope Francis reminded the faithful that Jesus chose to become a servant of the people rather than a king. “He comes to us in humility; he comes in the name of the Lord”. “Therefore he humbled himself, and the abyss of his humiliation, as Holy Week shows us, seems to be bottomless”.
In actual fact, the pope said, “If the mystery of evil is unfathomable, then the reality of Love poured out through him is infinite, reaching even to the tomb and to hell”. There, at the height of his annihilation, Jesus “reveals the true face of God, which is mercy: he forgives those who are crucifying him, he opens the gates of paradise to the repentant thief and he touches the heart of the centurion”.
Unlike many religious people, Pope Francis has taken advantage of the social media tools to communicate with Catholic followers around the globe.
“Instagram will help recount the Papacy through images, to enable all those who wish to accompany and know more about Pope Francis’ pontificate to encounter his gestures of tenderness and mercy”, said Msgr.
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He added: “We will choose photographs from the photographic service of L’Osservatore Romano …”
