Pope ushering in Holy Week with Palm Sunday

(April 4, 2009) Pope Benedict will usher the world’s Catholics into Christianity’s most solemn week when he celebrates Palm Sunday on April 5 in St. Peter Square. Palm Sunday liturgy commemorates Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem before his passion, death and glorious resurrection. On Palm Sunday, the Catholic Church also marks World Youth Day at the diocesan level; and this year’s theme is “We have placed our hope in the living God.” At the end of the Palm Sunday Mass young people from Australia, where last year’s international celebration of World Youth Day took place in Sydney, will hand over the World Youth Day Cross to their counterparts from Spain, where the next international World Youth Day celebration will take place Madrid in 2011.
Vatican Radio will broadcast live the Pope’s Palm Sunday liturgy for Asia on the 16 and 13 meterbands from 8.30 pm UTC (2 pm Indian Standard time) onwards.
The other Holy Week celebrations of Pope Benedict include the morning Chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, followed by the evening Mass at St. John Lateran on Holy Thursday on April 9; the afternoon liturgy of the Lord's Passion in St. Peter's Basilica followed by the night-time Way of the Cross at Rome’s Coliseum on Good Friday, April 10; the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night, April 11 in St. Peter's Basilica; and Easter Sunday morning Mass on April 12 in St. Peter's Square. This year Pope Benedict has asked Indian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati to write the meditations for the candle-lit Way of the Cross on Good Friday.