Catholic believers celebrate Palm Sunday/Tarciziu: We are preparing to celebrate Easter safely, in collaboration with authorities

Catholic believers celebrate Palm Sunday, a day of reminiscent of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, where he was greeted by crowds carrying palm branches. "Traditionally, on Palm Sunday, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest organizes a procession on the streets of Bucharest, which this year, for the second time, cannot take place due to the pandemic. However, at the urging of Pope Francis, who said, regarding the pandemic, that 'we are all in the same boat,' we understand that the suffering and the negative way in which our lives have been affected during this period take on new meaning through the Easter holidays: Jesus' self-sacrifice gives us a new perspective on our way of life. We are preparing to celebrate Easter in safety conditions, in collaboration with the state authorities," priest Tarcizio Serban, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest, told AGERPRES. He underscored that the approaching Easter holidays "call for a renewal of the mind and our way of life." "Palm Sunday essentially evokes the event of the Messianic entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. Surrounded and hailed by the apostles, disciples and a large part of the population as the Expected Messiah, Jesus enters Jerusalem bringing a message of rejection of corruption and abuse and conversion while turning to God's law. The Palm Sunday celebration cannot be dissociated from Easter and marks the entry into the liturgical preparation for the Death and Resurrection of Jesus in the Holy Week. Jesus' message was not approved by the authorities, who, after trying to compromise him in many ways, staged a trial that resulted in Jesus being sentenced to death by crucifixion. which we commemorate on the Great Friday, while on Easter Sunday we celebrate his victory against death," the priest explained. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Popescu, editor: Claudia Stanescu, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia)