Pope Francis Leads First Palm Sunday Mass

Large, enthusiastic crowds turned out for Pope Francis’s celebration of Palm Sunday, kicking off his first Holy Week as Pope.

FOX News Radio’s Courtney Walsh reports from the Vatican:

St. Peter’s Square was packed; many waved flags and the traditional palm and olive branches, some here to get a glimpse of the new Pope Francis as he celebrated his first Palm Sunday mass.  One sign read “You are the Springtime of the Church.”

(Pope Francis – in Italian) 

The Argentinian Pontiff, here saying never give in to desperation.   Smiling, he then drove the cheering crowds – with a dozen bodyguards walking beside his open-back Jeep – kissing babies and the disabled.

The hugely popular 76-year-old has a busy Easter schedule, and in a first, will visit a juvenile prison for the traditional Washing of the Feet on Holy Thursday.

At the Vatican, Courtney Walsh, FOX News Radio.