Among them was a Muslim. Before washing his feet, Francis celebrated a mass with the youth in the presence of about 100 people.
It is the same prison in which he was held ten years ago on Maundy Thursday – shortly after his election pope – washed the feet of male and female prisoners. The pope reached the altar for the ceremony in a wheelchair. “It is so beautiful to help one another, to reach out a hand. These are universal human gestures. With the gesture of washing the feet, Jesus wants to teach us the nobility of heart,” explained the Holy Father.
Pope repeatedly sought the proximity of prison inmates
In the past few years he had pope celebrated Mass on Maundy Thursday in various prisons. The tradition had been suspended in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, but last year the pope Convicts in Civitavecchia prison, north of Rome, have grown their feet again. The Mass on Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus’ Last Supper, at which he washed the feet of his twelve apostles as a sign of humility and love. Traditionally, the Maundy Thursday liturgy took place in the Lateran Basilica, the actual Roman papal church. Francis’ predecessors usually washed the feet of deserving clerics.
Francis broke with tradition at his first Easter celebration in 2013 by celebrating the service in a juvenile detention center, largely excluding the media. In 2014, he moved the rite to a facility for the disabled. Among other things, he washed the feet of a disabled Muslim from Libya. 2015 he washed pope Feet of inmates of the Roman Rebibbia prison. On Maundy Thursday 2016 he visited a refugee home. He washed the feet of refugees, including several Muslims.
Francis celebrated Chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday morning with priests from the Diocese of Rome and the Vatican Curia. The Chrism Mass is the prelude to the great liturgical celebrations around Easter. At the Chrism Mass, the holy oils are consecrated, which are used in the administration of baptism, confirmation, the anointing of the sick, as well as in consecration. At the same time, in St. Peter’s Basilica, several priests renewed the promises they had made at their ordination.
On Friday, the Easter celebrations will continue with the Good Friday liturgy at the Vatican and the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum. The 14 stations of the cross remind us of the suffering of Jesus. It is one of the most impressive ceremonies in the Roman church year. On Saturday evening, the celebration of the Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica, which lasts several hours, follows on Easter Sunday, followed by the Easter Mass with the subsequent blessing “Urbi et orbi”.
Source: Nachrichten
