The ritual is meant to be a gesture of service, and re-enacts a rite Jesus performed on his apostles before being crucified.
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Pope Francis prepared to wash the feet of eleven asylum seekers during the traditional “in coena Domini” Holy Thursday Mass at a migrant centre near Rome, demonstrating once again the centrality of the plight of migrants and refugees in his papacy. He poured holy water from a brass pitcher over their feet, wiped them clean and kissed them.
Rome: Pope Francis on Wednesday said it was with an “aching heart” that he followed the news of the terror attacks in Brussels which killed at least 34 people, Vatican Radio reported on Wednesday.
Francis was greeted with a banner reading “Welcome” in a variety of languages as he processed down a makeshift aisle to celebrate the outdoor Mass. A fraction of the 892 asylum-seekers now living at the shelter attended, though others milled around nearby and filmed the event on their smartphones. Those who came out, though, received a personal greeting: At the end of the Mass, Francis greeted each refugee, one by one, posing for selfies and accepting notes as he moved down the rows.
But after his election in 2013, he continued the tradition he started as archbishop of Buenos Aires, enabling women and non-Catholics to participate.
The Vatican said Thursday that four women and eight men had been selected.
But in January the Jesuit pontiff changed those rules to allow women and girls to be included.
The group was made up of three Muslims, one Hindu, three Coptic Christians and five Catholics (including the staffer).
As a part of the “Jubilee Year of Mercy” called for by Pope Francis, the program “The Face of God: Mercy in the Islamic, Jewish and Christian Traditions” will be held at Wednesday, April 6, 7 p.m.in the 3M Auditorium of Owens Science Hall on the St. Paul campus of the University of St. Thomas. “But brothers, children of the same God”, he said.
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“Three days ago, there was a gesture of war, of destruction, in a city of Europe by people who don’t want to live in peace”, he said.
