Pope Francis, seated at left, begins Palm Sunday Mass at the obelisk in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican March 24. Pope Francis celebrated his first Palm Sunday Mass as pope, telling an overflow crowd in St. Peter’s Square that Christ’s death on the cross is a source of eternal consolation and joy. “A Christian can never be sad. Never give way to discouragement,” the pope said in his homily… 
At right, a woman holds up a picture of Pope Francis while others raise palms to be blessed during Palm Sunday Mass outside the Basilica of San Jose de Flores in Buenos Aires, Argentina…
Coadjutor Archbishop Edmundo Valenzuela of Asuncion, Paraguay, below, celebrates a Palm Sunday procession outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Asuncion. Also known as Passion Sunday, this first day of Holy Week commemorates Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem before His crucifixion.
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