VATICAN CITY (AP) — Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass before crowds in St. Peter’s Square for the first time since the pandemic, Pope Francis has said that the “folly of war” leads people to commit “senseless acts of cruelty.”
Francis did not explicitly cite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the reference was clear and he has repeatedly denounced the war and the suffering brought to innocent people.
Traditionally, the pope leads a Palm Sunday procession through St. Peter’s Square before celebrating Mass. Francis has been suffering from a strained ligament in his right knee that makes him limp, and he was driven in a black car to the altar, which he then reached leaning on an aide.
