With the Chrism Mass that he presided over this Holy Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican before some 4,000 faithful, Pope Francis began the celebrations of the Easter Triduum, the most important liturgies of the year for Catholics and with which they remember the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During this morning’s ceremony, in which the around 1,500 priests present renewed the promises made on the day of his ordination, Jorge Mario Bergoglio looked good and read his long homily without any problems, thus clearing up doubts about his health after last Palm Sunday he gave up giving his sermon, having not fully recovered his lung capacity after the flu he suffered a few weeks ago.
This afternoon Jorge Mario Bergoglio will go to the Rebibbia women’s prison, located on the outskirts of the Italian capital, where he will celebrate the mass of the Lord’s Supper and wash the feet of a group of inmates, as has been customary in this ceremony since The Argentine Pope began his pontificate. He also had the habit of going to a prison on Holy Thursday when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, before his election as bishop of Rome 11 years ago. Bergoglio, moreover, has always liked to include some time in a prison during his trips, as he will do on his next visit to Venice on April 27.
The Pope arrives at St. Peter’s Basilica for mass.
Reuters
In his homily during the Chrism Mass this Holy Thursday, Francis warned priests about the risk of falling into “sclerosis of the heart”, inviting them not to have “derogatory judgments” towards those who do not believe and asking them instead to turn with those far away. “How much we need to free ourselves from resistance and recriminations, from selfishness and ambitions, from rigorism and dissatisfaction,” said the bishop of Rome. In a speech dedicated especially to priests, he highlighted the danger of being “very active and at the same time feeling powerless” when living in a secularized society. Priests can then “lose enthusiasm” and “lock themselves into complaints,” which ends up making them “bitter and sarcastic.”
The Pope will continue the Holy Week celebrations with the mass of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, while in the evening the traditional Via Crucis will take place in the Colosseum, whose meditations have been written directly for the first time. by the Pontiff.
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