Lent has begun in Rome with the celebration of Ash Wednesday and the previous pilgrimage to the Basilica of Santa Sabina.
This year, due to Pope Francis' admission to hospital, the celebration was presided over by Cardinal Angelo de Donatis, who read the homily prepared by the Pope.
ANGELO DE DONATIS
This evening, the sacred ashes will be scattered on our heads. They revive in us the memory of what we are and the hope of what we will be. They remind us that we are dust, but we are moving towards the hope to which we are called.
The homily reflected on human fragility and the current world.
ANGELO DE DONATIS
We realize that we are fragile when we discover ourselves exposed, in the social and political life of our time, to the subtle dust that contaminates the world: ideological opposition, the logic of prevarication, the return of old identity ideologies that theorize the exclusion of others, the exploitation of the earth's resources, violence in all its forms and war between peoples. All are "toxic dusts" that obfuscate the air of our planet, prevent peaceful coexistence, while uncertainty and fear of the future grow within us every day.
Several of the cardinals present in Rome participated in the liturgical celebration where ashes play a leading role.
With this celebration, the period of Lent begins in the Catholic Church, which serves as preparation for Holy Week.
BAM
TR: GS
