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» Pope Francis washes feet of elderly and disabled for the annual Maundy Thursday Holy Week ritual before Easter at the Don Gnocchi Centre in Rome
Pope Francis washes feet of elderly and disabled for the annual Maundy Thursday Holy Week ritual before Easter at the Don Gnocchi Centre in Rome
Holy See performed traditional Easter rite at care home in RomeHe has angered traditional Catholics as he washes the feet of womenThose whose feet he washed come from a variety of religious backgrounds
Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 elderly and disabled people Thursday - women and non-Catholics among them - in a pre-Easter ritual designed to show his willingness to serve others like a 'slave'.
Francis' decision in 2013 to perform the Holy Thursday ritual on women and Muslim inmates at a juvenile detention center helped define his rule-breaking papacy just two weeks after his election.
It riled traditionalist Catholics, who pointed to the Vatican's own regulations that the ritual be performed only on men since Jesus' 12 apostles were men.
Humility: Pope Francis performs the traditional washing of the feet during a visit to a centre for disabled people today
Pope Francis kisses the foot of a man as he performs the traditional Maundy Thursday ritual
But as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio frequently performed the ritual on women - a practice that he seems intent on keeping up now that he is pope.
This year Francis was at a centre for the elderly and disabled in Rome. Francis kneeled down, washed, dried and kissed the feet of a dozen people, some in wheelchairs, some with grossly swollen and disfigured feet.
Servant of God: Pope Francis washes the foot of a disabled person at the Santa Maria della Provvidenza church in Rome
Francis told the faithful that he was performing the ritual to remind himself how to serve others, as Jesus did when he washed the feet of his apostles.
'Jesus made a gesture, a job, the service of a slave, a servant,' he said. 'And he leaves this inheritance to us: We need to be servants to one another.'
Francis began Holy Thursday by presiding over Mass in St. Peter's Basilica celebrating the priesthood, the start of a busy four days of Holy Week commemorations and preparations for next week's canonization of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII.
During his morning homily Thursday, Francis urged his priests to exhibit joy, though he admitted that he too had suffered 'moments of listlessness and boredom which at times overcome us in our priestly life.'
HUMILITY BEFORE GOD: THE WASHING OF THE FEET
The Washing of the Feet, also known as Maundy (from Latin 'mandatum') is a religious rite observed by several Christian denominations.
Jesus performed the act in John 13:1–17. He said: 'If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
'For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
'If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.'
Many denominations observe the washing of the feet on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week. Foot washing rites are also practiced by many Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches.
At one time, most of the European monarchs also performed the Washing of Feet in their royal courts on Maundy Thursday, a practice continued by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor and the King of Spain up to the beginning of the 20th century.
Source: Wikipedia
Blustery: A gust of wind blows Pope Francis's mantle as he greets the faithful at the Santa Maria della Provvidenza church in Rome
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Amphoras containing holy oil are carried by prelates in St. Peter's Basilica during a mass at the Vatican today
In this picture made available by the Vatican newspaper L' Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis touches an amphora containing holy oil during the mass
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