International
Pope Francis does not read the homily at Palm Sunday Mass
Pope Francis did not read today the homily he had prepared for the Palm Sunday Mass, the Eucharistic celebration that opens the rites of Holy Week and that had gathered more than 60,000 faithful who crowded St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
At the opening of the ceremony, the 87-year-old pontiff had shown a tired voice and at the end of the reading of the Gospel, when the homily was expected, a prolonged silence followed after which he passed directly to the Creed.
The decision of the pope, who preferred not to read the homily to leave a time of personal reflection, was totally unexpected, since it was not planned for him to do so in such a prominent ceremony as Palm Sunday and surprised everyone by not doing so.
More than three weeks ago, Pope Francis had the flu and since then, although he has continued with his agenda, he has not been able to read on many occasions since he gets tired of reading long speeches.
Last Wednesday, during the general hearing, Francisco did not read the prepared catechesis and instead a collaborator did it because, he said: “I still can’t,” in reference to the respiratory problems he carries.
On this occasion no collaborator read the text and the Vatican did not give any immediate explanation about the cause for which Francis skipped the homily, something very unusual in a ceremony as important as Palm Sunday.
After the Mass, Francis did carry out the weekly Sunday prayer of the Angelus and his subsequent calls and messages
The square was decorated with the branches of olive trees and palms that the faithful, religious and members of the Curia had carried in procession before the mass, remembering the triumphal entry into Jerusalem of Jesus of Nazareth.
Before the mass, the procession took place in the central obelisk of St. Peter’s Square, where the branches were blessed.
Then they moved to the interior of the basilica in one of the oldest rites of Catholicism, which dates from the third century and in which today 30 cardinals, 25 bishops and 350 priests participated.
Pope Francis today condemned the “vile terrorist attack” last Friday in Moscow, which caused at least 133 deaths and which he described as “an inhuman act that offends God” during the Angelus prayer after the Palm Sunday Mass.
“I assure you of my prayers for the victims of the vile terrorist attack perpetrated the other night in Moscow. May the Lord receive them in his peace and comfort their families,” the pontiff said to the more than 25,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
Francis also showed his hope that he will “convert the hearts of those who protect, who organize and perform these inhuman acts that offend God, who ordered ‘You shall not kill’.”
International
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
A 65-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested at a border checkpoint in Croatia after attempting to enter the country in his car with a deceased woman sitting as a passenger, police announced on Tuesday.
The man was detained in a routine check in late November in Gunja, a border area separating Bosnia from Croatia, the police told AFP. Suspicious because they saw “no consciousness or movement” from the passenger, Croatian officers called a doctor, who confirmed the death of the 83-year-old woman, also Austrian, according to her identification.
The woman’s relationship to the suspect is unknown. She had died in Bosnia, and the man intended to repatriate her body to Austria to “avoid the formalities related to transporting a corpse,” according to the police. Croatian media reported that the man was her legal guardian.
Once her death was confirmed, a funeral service took charge of the body.
International
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Colombian authorities arrested two nationals accused of the illegal trafficking of migrants to the United States and of endangering lives due to the disappearance of a boat with 40 people aboard, U.S. Department of Justice officials reported on Tuesday.
Hernando Manuel de la Cruz Rivera Orjuela, 52, and Luis Enrique Linero Pinto, 40, both Colombian citizens, were arrested on December 13 in Colombia at the request of the United States for their alleged involvement in a “transnational human trafficking operation,” the department said in a statement.
According to the charges, the detainees were transporting migrants to San Andrés Island in the Caribbean, where they would then be taken by boat to Nicaragua. The goal was to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
The accused are said to have advised the migrants on how to reach San Andrés Island, where they personally received them, arranged accommodations, and “took them to the boats that transported them to Nicaragua so they could enter the United States illegally,” the statement reads.
“These defendants put several migrants on the boat that disappeared off the coast of Nicaragua in 2023,” said Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, as cited in the statement.
Both men are “directly and personally responsible for the illicit trafficking of migrants on that vessel,” according to the indictment dated October 23.
International
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Two soldiers were killed and five others were injured by the explosion of homemade landmines planted by a criminal group in a mountainous area of the Mexican state of Michoacán (west), the Secretary of Defense reported on Tuesday.
The attack occurred on Monday morning in the municipality of Cotija, a border area between Michoacán and the state of Jalisco, when the military was conducting a reconnaissance mission after receiving information about an armed camp in the area, explained Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla.
“At that moment, an improvised explosive device detonated. Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives, and five others were injured,” the military leader detailed. The affected soldiers were airlifted to hospitals in the region by a military helicopter, while the rest of the team continued with the reconnaissance of the area.
Trevilla stated that before the explosion, the military unit had located the dismembered bodies of three people, and upon continuing the mission, they confirmed the camp was abandoned.
Asked about the individuals responsible for placing the explosives, the general suggested they could be criminals linked to the local group Cárteles Unidos, which operates in Michoacán and uses these tactics in their territorial dispute with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the country.
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
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