Holy Week

As the lights of St. Peter's Basilica were extinguished and silence settled through the sprawling interior, a single flame -- the paschal candle -- pierced through the gloom, representing the light of the risen Christ which "quietly shines forth, even though we are in darkness," Pope Francis said.

Today's "builders of Babel" are constructing a hell on earth, rejecting everyone they decide are "losers," Pope Francis wrote in the meditations for the Way of the Cross.

Jesus, who redeemed humanity by giving up his life on the cross, shows that it is not strength that saves the world, but the "weakness" of boundless love, the papal preacher told thousands of people gathered for the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion at the Vatican.

While he did not celebrate Mass or wash the feet of inmates, Pope Francis made his customary Holy Thursday visit to a detention facility, arriving at Rome's Regina Coeli jail at about 3 p.m. April 17.

Priests are called to continual conversion so that they can authentically preach the good news of hope, Pope Francis wrote in the homily he prepared for the Holy Thursday chrism Mass.

Pope Francis is going without supplemental oxygen for longer periods and is continuing therapy to recover his voice and to recover his physical strength, the Vatican press office said, but he also is increasing the number of private meetings he is holding with the heads of Vatican offices.

Police and paramilitaries maintained a heavy presence outside the Nicaraguan Managua cathedral on Palm Sunday, ensuring celebrations occurred entirely on church property—and sending a not-so-subtle message of intimidation.

For the second year in a row, few foreign pilgrims were in attendance at the traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives into the Old City of Jerusalem due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. But even the grey skies that threatened rain didn't dampen the spirit of the 4,000 participants.

Carrying the cross means more than bearing personal suffering -- it means stepping into the pain of others and walking beside them, Pope Francis wrote at the start of Holy Week.