JERUSALEM – On Sunday, March 24th, 2024, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, presided over the Palm Sunday celebrations, with the participation of Mgr. William Shomali, Patriarchal General Vicar, Fr. Francesco Patton, the Custos of the Holy Land, and many bishops, priests and faithful.
The celebrations began at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, where His Beatitude blessed the palm and olive branches and led a procession around the tomb, remembering Christ’s royal entry into Jerusalem before the beginning of Holy Week, while the Gospel of the Passion according to the Evangelist Mark was read.
Towards the end, His Beatitude addressed all the participants, expressing his dismay that parishioners and pilgrims were unable to participate due to the prevailing conditions: ” We have joined voices with those who sang in Jerusalem two thousand years ago: “Hosanna Filio David,” Hosanna to the Son of David. Yes, especially now, it is even more important and necessary to shout strongly that Jesus is our Messiah, He is our Lord, He is the Kyrios. It may be that in these past months, we have felt lost or alone and without reference points. We have felt crushed by so much hatred. This war, which is so terrible and seems never-ending, sometimes leads us to fear for the future of our families. Yet today we are here again, even if few in number, without pilgrims and without so many of our brothers and sisters from so many parts of our diocese, who could not join us. It does not discourage us! Few or many, it is important to be here, and to shout with strength and faith that we have a point of reference, Jesus Christ. We are not alone, we are not abandoned, and above all, we are not afraid!”.
