VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has tossed aside his prepared homily on this Palm Sunday -- instead speaking entirely off-the-cuff to a crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square.

He called on people -- himself included -- to look into their own hearts to see how they are living their lives.

And then the pontiff helped some in the crowd take a look at themselves -- by hopping off his popemobile to pose for "selfies" with young people.

Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, which culminates next Sunday on Easter. Francis used a pastoral staff made of wood carved by Italian prison inmates, who donated it to him. The pope is determined to put people on the margins of life at the center of the Roman Catholic church's attention.

 

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