Tens of thousands of Romans, tourists and pilgrims have joined Pope Francis in a solemn Palm Sunday service in St. Peter's Square.
Under cloudy skies, Francis celebrated Mass on the steps of the square as the crowd spread out before him. Faithful clutched olive tree branches, tall palm fronds or tiny braided palm leaves shaped like crosses.
Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, which culminates next Sunday on Easter. Francis used a pastoral staff made of wood carved by Italian prison inmates, who donated it to him. The pope is determined to put people on the margins of life at the center of the Roman Catholic Church’s attention.
Francis wore red vestments, symbolizing blood shed by the crucified Jesus. On Friday, he'll preside at the Colosseum Way of the Cross procession.
Christians gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday across Israel and Palestine with services in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Gaza.
Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, which believers hold to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, priests and pilgrims waved palm fronds and olive branches.
In Bethlehem, Christians carried palm fronds into the Church of the Nativity, which lies above the grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born.
Gaza's Christian community gathered in Gaza City's Catholic Church.
Approximately 1,800 Gazan Christians live alongside around 1.7 million Muslims in the Gaza Strip.
In Ukraine, Christians gathered at St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kiev to celebrate Palm Sunday, the last Sunday before Easter.
Many of the congregation said they were praying for the crisis in Ukraine to be peacefully resolved.
"We think that Ukraine cannot be divided and, God willing, people will understand that we all are Ukrainians. We love east and west and Ukraine is united," said one parishioner, Elena Sergeeva.
Ethnic Russians in Ukraine's east widely fear that the new pro-Western Ukrainian government will suppress them.
Protesters in eastern cities, meanwhile, have called for referendums similar to the one held in Crimea last month in which voters opted to split off from Ukraine, leading to annexation by Russia.
AP