Pope
Francis opened solemn Holy Week services with Palm Sunday Mass in St.
Peter's Square, stressing humility and remembering the dead in the
Germanwings crash.
At the end of Mass
outside St. Peter's Basilica for some 70,000 faithful, Francis prayed
for those who died in Tuesday's crash in the French Alps, noting there
was a group of German schoolchildren aboard the aircraft. The disaster
killed 150 people, including the co-pilot who investigators say
deliberately slammed the plane into the mountain.
Francis clutched a palm
frond during the traditional procession at the service's start. In
keeping with the simple tone of his two-year-old papacy, Francis leaned
on a plain wooden pastoral staff instead of a traditionally more ornate
one as he stood under a red canopy on the basilica steps.
He wore bright red
vestments to recall Jesus' death by crucifixion. In his homily, Francis
stressed humility, another quality that has marked his papal style.
He hailed those who
quietly ignore their own needs to serve others, and paid tribute to
Christians who endure with dignity humiliation, discrimination and even
persecution for their faith.
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