Pope Leo washed the feet of 12 priests on Thursday as part of a special pre-Easter ritual and said this act, which emulates a gesture of humility by Jesus the night before his death, should inspire Catholics to care for those in need.
“As humanity is broken by so many acts of brutality, let us also kneel as brothers and sisters alongside the oppressed,” said Leo, the first American pope, who in recent weeks has emerged as a sharp critic of the Iran war.
“God has given us an example, not of how to dominate, but of how to liberate,” the pope said, before bending down to pour water over the feet of the 12 men, one by one, and then drying and kissing them.
León officiated at the mass on Holy Thursday, the first of the four days full of events leading up to Easter on Sunday. The ritual was held in Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran, the pope’s cathedral, in a change from recent tradition.
The late Pope Francis preferred to celebrate Mass outside of churches, usually in prisons, nursing homes or hospices, continuing a practice he began as a bishop in Argentina.
Last Easter, while recovering from double pneumonia and a few days before his death, Francis made a surprise visit to Regina Coeli, in Rome, one of the most overcrowded prisons in Italy, to give good wishes to the inmates.
Sources in Vatican City indicated that León decided to wash the feet of priests this year to show his support for the Catholic clergy. who often works long hours and leads more than one parish.
The pope also dedicated his April monthly prayer intention to priests, asking the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics to pray for God’s care and encouragement.
