Pope Francis Sets Aside Tradition at Foot-Washing Ceremony

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Pope Francis broke with tradition on Thursday by only washing the feet of women, according to the Associated Press. At a Maundy Thursday ceremony at Rome’s Rebibbia prison, Francis moved from woman to woman, washing and kissing their feet as Jesus of Nazareth did for his disciples before being crucified. Many of the women cried as he went along. This is the first year that the traditional Holy Week ceremony has featured solely female participants. Francis revolutionized the practice during his first ceremony in 2013, when he insisted that women and people of different faiths should be included in the proceedings. Ever since, he has annually traveled to prisons, refugee centers, and youth detention facilities to perform the foot-washing ceremony. Francis, who had skipped a homily earlier this week and has struggled with respiratory illness, confining him to a wheelchair, appeared healthy. “Jesus humiliates himself,” Francis said. “With this gesture, he makes us understand what he had said: ‘I am not here to be served, but to serve.’”

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