Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 disabled and
elderly 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.
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.
The 2014 edition brought Francis to a center for the
disabled and elderly 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.
The Vatican didn't release the exact breakdown of
their religious backgrounds, but said they came from various religious
confessions. Italian news reports said one was a Libyan Muslim and four were
women.
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 an upcoming 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."
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