LONDON: Pope Francis at the last minute skipped reading his homily during a Palm Sunday Mass for tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square but continued presiding at the service, read his noon prayer and was driven around the crowd in a popemobile.
In recent weeks the 87-year-old pope has been suffering on and off from bronchitis and influenza and has delegated an aide to read his addresses for him, but on Sunday his prepared text was not read at all.
It is very unusual for a pope to totally skip a homily at a major event such as Palm Sunday, which marks the start of Holy Week, a busy period leading to Easter.
The Vatican gave no immediate explanation for why the pope skipped the homily. Vatican Television coverage showed only the crowd for a few minutes, instead of a close-up of the pope.
An announcer on Vatican Radio then said the pope had decided to not read the homily. The pope, dressed in red vestments, continued presiding, reading parts of the Mass.
Cardinals, priests and bishops took part in the service that commemorates what the Bible says was Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem days before he was betrayed, put on trial and executed by crucifixion.
The agency said it had concerns following those 20 crashes as well as results from preliminary NHTSA tests of updated...
China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Teodoro’s comments outside...
Ukrainian authorities said one energy worker was hurt overnight
China’s Jiangsu was hit by a violent tornado which killed 10 people after torrential rain lashed China’s southeast
Prime Minister Albanese said he would be part of a rally in the national capital Canberra on Sunday
In body camera video released on Thursday by the Canton Police Department, officers are seen apprehending the man
