The Pope skips the homily during Holy Mass. on Palm Sunday in St. Peter’s Square

Pope Francis at the last minute he decided to skip the homily during Holy Mass. on Palm Sunday in St. Peter’s Square Peter, avoiding giving a grueling speech at the starting of a busy Holy Week that will have put his increasingly frail health to the test.

Limped by bad knees and chronic respiration problemsFrancis also didn’t participate in the procession of cardinals around the obelisk in the square at the starting of the mass. Instead, the 87-year-old pope blessed palm leaves and olive branches carried by the faithful from the altar.

Francis was expected to deliver a homily midway through the service, and a prepared text was distributed to journalists. However, when an aide handed Francis his glasses to start reading, the pope made it clear that he wouldn’t make these remarks, leaving the crowd waiting in silence.

Vatican officials didn’t immediately explain why. The Vatican press office later said the homily was replaced by “a moment of silence and prayer.”

Francis, nevertheless, prayed throughout the service, and at the end of the mass he made a protracted appeal for peace. He said he was praying for the families of the victims who died in what he called an “inhumane” attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall, and likewise asked for prayers for “tortured Ukraine” and the people of Gaza.

Vatican officials estimated that about 60,000 people attended the Mass, celebrated under a sunny, breezy spring sky. Francis spent several minutes greeting them from the popemobile, making several loops around the square at the end of the service.

Palm Sunday begins a busy week for Francis, resulting in Easter Sunday, when the faithful commemorate Christ’s resurrection. On Thursday, Francis is scheduled to go to a Roman women’s prison for a standard foot-washing ritual. On Friday, he’s scheduled to steer a torch-lit Stations of the Cross procession in Rome’s Colosseum, reenacting Christ’s crucifixion.

The next day is the Easter Vigil, during which Francis presides over a solemn night service in the basilica, followed by Holy Mass on Easter Sunday. on St. Square Peter and at noon he’ll give a blessing from the loggia above.

The Holy Week schedule presents a challenge for popes, even in the better of circumstances. But this 12 months it’s very true for Francis, who has been battling off and on throughout the winter with what he and the Vatican have described as a case of influenza, bronchitis or a chilly. This has been happening to him sporadically for several weeks he asked the counselor to read it aloud his speeches and catechism lessons to spare him the effort.

On Sunday, no substitute was announced and the homily was omitted. Vatican officials said the prepared text ought to be considered never to have existed. Typically, the Pope doesn’t deliver a homily on Easter, but traditionally offers reflections on Palm Sunday.

Even when he is just not sick, Francis often speaks in whispers and seems to expire of breath easily. When he was a young man, he had a part of one lung removed because of a respiratory infection.

This time last 12 months, he was hospitalized for 3 days with severe bronchitis, but then rallied to get through Holy Week. During his pontificate, he was hospitalized twice more for abdominal surgery, including once for 10 days in 2021, during which a part of the large intestine was removed.

At the end of the Holy Mass Francis prayed at length for peace for all those affected by the war and for the Lord’s consolation for the victims of the “hideous terrorist attack” in Moscow.

“May he convert the hearts of those who protect, organize and carry out these inhumane acts that offend God, who commanded us not to kill,” Francis said.

Without citing Moscow, Francis also asked the faithful to not forget the suffering of Ukraine. He noted that many Ukrainians are currently without electricity because of this of “intense attacks on infrastructure that are not only bringing death and suffering, but also the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe of even greater proportions.”

“Please do not forget about tortured Ukraine,” he said. “Let us also think of the Gaza Strip, which is suffering so much, and the many other places where war is taking place.”