Pope washes feet of prisoners

Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 women inmates of the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024.

The 87-year-old pontiff, who has been experiencing health and mobility difficulties recently, led the ceremony from his wheelchair, at Rebibbia prison in Rome, washing the feet of each of the women , many of whom were in tears as he did so.

“We all have our small or big failures — everyone has their own story. But the Lord always awaits us, with his arms open, and never tires of forgiving,” the Holy Father said, according to Vatican News.

Many of the women wept as Francis washed their feet, gently pouring water over one bared foot and patting it dry with a small towel. He finished the gesture by kissing each foot, often looking up to the woman with a smile.

The dozen inmates were of “different nationalities,” the Vatican said.

The ceremony takes place on Maundy Thursday before Easter and seeks to imitate Jesus Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet the night before he died.

In the early years of his pontificate, Pope Francis changed church rules to officially include women in the ceremony, a move that met resistance in the Vatican.

His predecessor, Benedict XVI, only washed the feet of men, and later switched to washing only the feet of priests. Since his election, the pope has taken this ceremony out of Vatican territory and celebrated by washing the feet of prisoners, refugees and the disabled.

Over the years, Francis has washed the feet of women and Muslims.

Nadia Fontana, the director of the female prison in Rome where the event took place, said it was the first time a pope had entered their facility, which she said held 360 prisoners and one child. Francis instituted the custom shortly after the start of his papacy.

After visiting the Casal del Marmo youth detention centre in 2013, he presided at Holy Thursday Masses at a centre for the disabled in 2014, the Rebibbia New Complex Prison in 2015, a centre for asylum seekers in 2016, Paliano prison in 2017, Rome’s historic Regina Coeli prison in 2018, and Velletri men’s prison in 2019.

In 2023 he washed the feet of 12 young men and women at the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention center on Rome’s outskirts.

(AP)