Pope celebrates Palm Sunday Mass after hospital stay, defends the abandoned

• Embrace life of modesty, humility, service, Kaigama, Boateng urge leaders

Pope Francis, yesterday, celebrated the Passion Sunday mass in St Peter’s Square, just a day after leaving hospital following a bout of bronchitis.

In his homily, he defended the “abandoned” of the world. “No one can be marginalised,” he said before thousands of faithful, with his voice still weak.

On a cloudy morning, Francis wore a long, ivory-coloured coat as he was driven into the square. Ahead of him, scores of prelates and priests and tens of thousands of rank-and-file faithful clutching palm or olive branches filled the square.

Francis, 86, received antibiotics administered intravenously during his three-day stay in hospital. His last previous appearance in St. Peter’s Square was for his regular Wednesday public audience. He was taken to Rome’s Gemelli Policlinic that same day when he felt ill.

At the start of the Mass, Francis took his place in a chair before the towering obelisk as a procession of cardinals in bright-red vestments and other faithful moved through the square.

The ceremony recalls Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem in the time leading up to his crucifixion, which Christians mark on Good Friday. Easter Sunday, which is on April 9, celebrates his resurrection from the dead.

In most churches, Passion Sunday, also known as Palm Sunday, is celebrated by the blessing and distribution of palm branches or the branches of other native trees. The day also marks the first day of the holy week and it is the last week of the Christian solemn season of lent that precedes the arrival of Easter.

The Pope’s admission to hospital on Wednesday with breathing difficulties sparked concerns he may not be well enough to attend a series of rites in the most important week in the Christian calendar.

But Francis had promised to be present, and he waved briefly to some 30,000 people as he rode in his popemobile through the square, which was adorned with over 35,000 plants and flowers.

He looked serious as he followed the procession through St Peter’s Square of religious figures, including red-robed cardinals, carrying large palm leaves and olive branches.

As a smiling Francis had left Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday after a three-night stay, he quipped to well-wishers who asked how he was “I am still alive!”

The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics has suffered from increasing health issues over the past few years, including knee problems, which have forced him to use a wheelchair and walking stick.
Francis remained seated throughout the mass, while a cardinal conducted the ceremony at the altar.

The Vatican said this was an arrangement adopted prior to the pope’s latest illness, as he is no longer able to stand for long periods.

The hospitalisation was his second since 2021, when he underwent colon surgery, also at Gemelli. His increasing health issues over the past year have sparked widespread concern, including speculation that he might choose to retire rather than stay in the job for life.

Francis marked 10 years as the head of the worldwide Catholic Church earlier this month. He has pushed through major governance reforms and sought to forge a more open, compassionate Church, although he has faced internal opposition, particularly from conservatives.

As Christians celebrate Palm Sunday, Nigerian leaders have been called upon to follow the examples of Jesus Christ so that everything they do will be in accordance with the will of God.

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Grace, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, urged political office holders to embrace the life of modesty and service rather than flamboyance.

“Unfortunately, our political offices in Nigeria are so lucrative and absorb a very huge chunk of our national revenue that aspirants to political offices are often prepared to do everything, good or bad, kind or inhuman, to get in.”

The Archbishop explained that the humility and obedience of Jesus to the will of His father contradicts the arrogant display of wealth and fame by rulers and politicians today.

“Although Christ is God, he humbly rode on the lowliest of beasts. Jesus did not violate traffic rules of the time because He is the Lord. He needed no armed and paid security officers. Instead, He simply mounted a colt and made His way into Jerusalem,” he said.

Kaigama further stressed that the life of a leader must include suffering and pain on behalf of the people, saying: “A leader, whether spiritual, traditional, or political must carry the burden of his/her people and sacrifice for them.”

Also, Reverend Father Felix Kroaku Boateng, OP, who spoke with The Guardian after delivering his homily, titled: “Christ’s humility and example for us” at Saint Jude’s Catholic Church, Mafoluku, Lagos urged Nigerian leaders to know that God created and put them in positions of authority and as such should use their position to glorify God and live a humble life.

He said: “As the readings tell us that Christ though mighty as He was, was God and if God is coming all of us know that a mighty God as He is, should come in His glory and might. But He came in a most humble way by sitting on a donkey, the least of animals, which showed humility. Humility is what Jesus came to show us and if God whom we are to emulate, especially during this period laid down his life for us, it’s important that leaders, especially, should follow the example of Jesus so that everything they do may be in accordance with God’s will.”

Reverend Father Boateng, who is also a Domician Priest, emphasised the importance of justice in Nigeria.

According to him, God who is a merciful and loving God, is also a God of justice, and so, if you are looking for what is right and what is true, we must look at justice. “And looking for justice, we find the truth and the truth is Jesus Christ himself. So, let us put justice where justice is demanded and that will make this country great. Without justice, we cannot move this country to where we want it to be. So, justice is very important,” he stressed.

He also advised the parishioners, especially as they prepare for Easter to do away with arrogance and pride, warning that it would take them to nowhere.