• Crowds pray with Pope Francis at start of holy week

    Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday and encouraged the faithful to be humble and joyful, NBC's Lester Holt reports.

    By F. Brinley Bruton and Claudio Lavanga, NBC News

    Pope Francis on Sunday led his first major service since his election, calling on crowd to shun corruption and reach out to "the humble, the poor, the forgotten."

    "Let us look around: how many wounds are inflicted upon humanity by evil! Wars, violence, economic conflicts that hit the weakest, greed for money, power, corruption, divisions, crimes against human life and against creation," he said.

    The new pope invoked the wisdom of his grandmother and used simple language at the Palm Sunday service, which marks the start of the holy week of Easter in celebration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

    Pope Francis departed from his prepared text and when he referred to wealth said: "You can't take it with you, my grandmother used to say." 

    Some 250,000 people waving palm and olive branches gathered in St. Peter's Square to be part of the Catholic Church's most important liturgical season. Sprigs of olive trees were distributed to the faithful in remembrance of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem before his crucifixion.

    After blessing palm and olive branches — symbols of peace —  the pontiff walked to the altar on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica to conduct the outdoor Mass.

    He again urged defense of the environment, speaking of "our personal sins: our failures in love and respect towards God, towards our neighbor and towards the whole of creation." 

    Alessandra Tarantino / AP

    Pope Francis arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Sunday.

    'I like him a lot'
    The new pontiff arrived to the ceremonies in an uncovered car. Wearing bright red robes over a white cassock, Francis then walked along St. Peter's holding a palm frond and presided over the Mass from an altar sheltered by a canopy on the steps of St. Peter's. 

    His message and style seemed to resonate with many in the crowd.  

    Italian Angelica Recchiuto, 23, said the new pope was a breath of fresh air.

    "I don't care he is not Italian, I like him a lot," she said.  "And frankly, (Francis' predecessor) Benedict XVI acted like a real foreigner. Francis doesn't."

    After Sunday's Mass, the Pope Francis will lead six more liturgies during the week, culminating with the Easter Sunday Mass and Urbi et Orbi blessing

    On Saturday, Pope Francis and Benedict prayed together before having lunch in a historic meeting.

    The new pontiff had flown to the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills outside of Rome by helicopter. Pope Benedict XVI has been living there since he resigned Feb. 28, becoming the first pope to step down in 600 years. Both men wore white papal outfits.

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    This story was originally published on Sun Mar 24, 2013 5:04 AM EDT

  • Christians mark Easter Sunday at ancient holy site; Pope calls for peace in Syria

    Ammar Awad / Reuters

    The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal leads Easter Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday.

    By msnbc.com news services

    JERUSALEM -- Thousands of Christians gathered in Jerusalem for Easter Sunday to commemorate Jesus Christ's resurrection, crowding into one of Christianity's holiest churches, worshipping, singing and praying.

    Catholics and Protestants took in turns to hold ceremonies within the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried.

    Inside, clergymen in flowing white and gold robes celebrated Mass, the air thick with incense plumes. Believers swarmed through the winding church — a series of cave-like spaces decked with ornate decorations and stairways leading to galleries and descending into dark, cavernous rooms, joined by a soaring dome roof. Different and often feuding Christian sects control parts of the Sepulcher, heavy with incense, filled with scurrying monks and awed crowds.

    Italian Premier Mario Monti, in the church on a private visit, joined the masses of Christian faithful. He shook hands with pilgrims and spoke to monks in the Old City.

    Thousands of Palestinian Catholics smashed boiled egg shells against each other, representing Jesus' emerging from his tomb. They ate circular bread symbolizing his crown of thorns. They greeted each other with the Arabic felicitation, "Christ has arisen," prompting the response: "Verily he has arisen."

    Lee Jin-Man / AP

    A Christian devotee re-enacts Jesus' path to his crucifixion during a performance in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday.

    "Jesus promised us salvation and hopefully, we will be worthy of it, because he is truthful of his promise to us," said local priest Marwan Deidis.

    Slideshow: Easter celebrations

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    Around the world, Christians celebrate the holiest week of the year.

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    There are about 110,000 Arab Christians in the Holy land, along with thousands of Christian foreign workers, asylum seekers, and Russian-speaking immigrants. Tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims from outside the region also flock to Jerusalem and the Holy Land for Easter rites.

    Outside the ancient city's walls, several hundred Protestants gathered in the Garden Tomb, where they believe Jesus was buried. They sat in a sunny, leafy green garden listening to a sermon and sung gospel music.

    NY cardinal's stance on gay rights sparks resignation

    Meanwhile, thousands of other Christians belonging to Eastern Orthodox churches, who celebrate Easter using a different calendar from their Catholic and Protestant brethren, marked Palm Sunday.

    Several dozen Ethiopian Christians who also use the older calendar gathered in a niche of the Sepulcher church, wearing long white robes, decked in white, blue and black rimless hats. They sang in their ancient language, marking off beats with a silver instrument that made a rattling sound.

    K.M. Chaudary / AP

    Worshippers hold candles during an Easter Mass in a church in Lahore, Pakistan, on Saturday.

    In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, dozens of Greek Orthodox Palestinian Christians celebrated Palm Sunday. They gathered into their tiny stone-built church, painted sky-blue and decorated with icons of Jesus, his mother Mary and other saints. Four young men garbed in white and gold robes sung from prayer books, believers lit candles and chanted in Arabic, recording the journey made to Jerusalem, where his followers decked his path with palms and olive branches.

    "Jesus went to Jerusalem to call people to peace," said Jaber Abdullah Jindi, a Gazan Christian. "And just as he did, we hope that there will be peace in all the region, especially in Palestine."

    Matko Biljak / Reuters

    Fishermen dressed as Roman soldiers collapse as they re-enact a scene from the Bible as part of the Easter tradition at a church in Sumartin, Croatia, on Saturday.

    In Rome, meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in sun-drenched, flower-adorned St. Peter's Square, before tens of thousands of people.

    Benedict looked tired at the start of the Mass at an altar set up on the steps outside St. Peter's Basilica.

    He urged the Syrian regime to heed international calls to end bloodshed and commit to dialogue and prayed for peace in coup-struck Mali. As the pope spoke, Syrian troops pounded opposition areas, activists said, killing 74 civilians in an offensive that has sent thousands of refugees surging into Turkey before next week's U.N.-backed ceasefire.

    Gabriel Bouys / AFP - Getty Images

    Pope Benedict XVI leads the Easter Holy Mass at St Peter's Square on Sunday.

    The pontiff also denounced terrorist attacks in Nigeria that have hit Christians and Muslims alike. Citing emergency officials and witnesses, Reuters reported that a roadside car bomb in Nigeria's northern town of Kaduna killed several people on Easter Sunday. The blast occurred after security officers stopped the driver from approaching a church.

    The pope struggled with hoarseness throughout the Mass before a crowd of more than 100,000 faithful. Only hours earlier he had led a three-hour nighttime Easter vigil inside St. Peter's Basilica.

    At the end of his Easter message, Benedict wished the world a Happy Easter in 65 languages, including Arabic, Hebrew and other languages spoken in the areas in mentioned in his peace appeals.

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Palm Sunday observed around the world

    Sebastian Scheiner / AP

    Catholic priests carry palm fronds at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's Old city, April 1. Palm Sunday marks for Christians Jesus Christ's entrance into Jerusalem when his followers laid palm branches in his path, prior to his crucifixion.

    The day's events began with a mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher — revered as the site where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. Several hundred worshippers and clergy lit candles and waved palm fronds in the dark, cavernous church.

    "It's the holiest place in the world for Christians and it's important for me to come here at least once in my lifetime," said Etienne Chevremont, 49, a visitor from Paris who attended the Jerusalem Mass.

    -- Reported by the Associated Press

    Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters

    A woman prays on a hill with wooden crosses after a procession celebrating Palm Sunday in the town of Oshmiany, 88 miles northwest of Minsk, Belarus, April 1.

    Kacper Pempel / Reuters

    Women hold palm fronds as they take part in a Mass celebrating Catholic Palm Sunday at Saint Anna church in Warsaw, Poland, April 1.

    Vincenzo Pinto / AFP - Getty Images

    Pope Benedict XVI leaves after celebrating the Palm Sunday mass in St Peter's square at the Vatican, on April 1. Palm Sunday marks the start of the holy week of Easter in celebration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    Jon Nazca / Reuters

    Spanish actor and director Antonio Banderas, center, sings a song to the Virgin inside a church as he takes part as a penitent in the "Lagrimas and Favores" brotherhood in a Palm Sunday procession at the start of Holy Week in Malaga, southern Spain, April 1. Hundreds of processions take place around the clock in Spain during Holy Week, drawing thousands of visitors.