Pope Francis Skips Homily At Start Of Busy Holy Week

Any church leader could attest that the week of Easter is like the week of the Super Bowl to them.

But when you're the leader of the entire Catholic Church? Talk about pressure.

The pontiff needs to be at the top of his game during this week, but Pope Francis didn't feel like he was up to the entire challenge. At the last minute, he decided to skip his homily during Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Square.

His team is indicating that the decision was made to keep Pope Francis fresh for the rest of the busy Holy Week period that will test his frail health.

Pope Francis has been struggling with bad knees and persistent respiratory problems.

So, when it came to the moment of truth for the Pope to deliver his speech he had already distributed to the press, he and his team made the last-minute decision to call it off.

The Vatican press office later said that the homily was replaced by "a moment of silence and prayer."