Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 elderly and disabled people during a Holy Thursday ritual in Rome on Thursday, the Associated Press reports.
Francis also performed the pre-Easter ritual last year on female and Muslim inmates at a juvenile detention center in Rome. That represented a major break with papal tradition, as typically only Catholic men are included in the practice.
The Vatican has not yet released the religious backgrounds of all the participants of this year’s ceremony, but Vatican officials said the participants came from various religious backgrounds. The Pope told the gathered crowd that he performs the ritual in order to remind himself of Jesus’ call to help others.
“Jesus made a gesture, a job, the service of a slave, a servant,” Franics said. “And he leaves this inheritance to us: We need to be servants to one another.”
[AP]
- Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Undoing Constitutional Right to Abortion
- What the Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision Means for Your State
- The Failure of the Feminist Industrial Complex
- The Fight Over Abortion Has Only Just Begun
- Column: How Stereotypes Shape the Language People Use
- Everything We Know About Beyoncé's New Album, Renaissance
- Homes Made from Straw or Fungi Can Now Get You a Cheaper Mortgage in the Netherlands
- Going on Vacation This Summer? Welcome to the 'Revenge Travel' Economy
