In March, millions of pilgrims visited Rome to participate in the Holy Week celebrations.
On Palm Sunday, Pope Francis presided over the Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter's Square. But he did not participate in the procession of the palms and did not deliver the homily. The Vatican did not clarify whether or not this decision was due to health problems.
On Holy Thursday, the Pope celebrated the Chrism Mass as Bishop of the Diocese of Rome and in the afternoon he visited a women's prison for the traditional washing of the feet. The inmates were moved by his gesture.
There, he gave a homily on the importance of forgiveness.
POPE FRANCIS
I once heard a wise old woman, an old woman not of the people, who said that Jesus never tires of forgiving. We are the ones who tire of asking for forgiveness. Let us ask the Lord today for the grace not to get tired. All of us always with our little failures, big failures. We each have our own story but the Lord is always waiting for us with an open embrace and he never tires of forgiveness.
The following day, at the last minute, the Pope did not attend the traditional Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum.
On Holy Saturday he presided over the Easter Vigil and on Sunday, he imparted the Urbi et Orbi blessing. In his speech, Pope Francis made a strong appeal for peace.
POPE FRANCIS
Let us not allow the ongoing hostilities to continue, to severely affect the civilian population, now weary, especially the children. What suffering we see in the eyes of the children. They have forgotten to smile, those children in those territories of war.
With this celebration, a busy season came to an end in Rome. During Easter, the Eternal City receives millions of pilgrims traveling from all over the world.
PA
TR: AT
