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Pope Leo XIV presides at Mass in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican on Catholic Palm Sunday. Photo: Alessandra Tarantino/AP/dpa
Keystone
Pope Leo XIV's first pre-Easter week as pontiff has begun. In front of tens of thousands of people, the head of around 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide celebrated the traditional Palm Sunday mass in St. Peter's Square - the service marks the start of Holy Week. During this week, Christians commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. His resurrection is then finally commemorated on Easter Sunday.
It is the first Easter for Leo since his election as Pope in May last year. His predecessor Pope Francis left the liturgical celebrations to others last Easter after a five-week stay in hospital due to severe pneumonia, but appeared to the faithful on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica on Easter Sunday. The next day, Francis died of a stroke at the age of 88.
Leo has a busy schedule in the coming week. On Maundy Thursday, a church service is planned, followed by the traditional foot washing in Rome's Lateran Basilica. However, it has not yet been decided who he will be washing the feet of. Francis has repeatedly visited prisons on this day and washed the feet of prisoners.
On Good Friday, Leo will then take part in the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum. He will celebrate the Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica late in the evening on Holy Saturday. The highlight of the Easter celebrations will be the great festive service on Easter Sunday. Afterwards, the Pope will give the traditional blessing "Urbi et Orbi", i.e. to the city and the world, from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica in front of tens of thousands of people and cameras around the world.
29.03.2026, 12:11
