Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 prisoners in a women’s prison and kissed them

Pope Francis visited a women’s prison in Rome to wash the feet of 12 prisoners from his wheelchair on Maundy Thursday.

The 87-year-old pontiff, who often calls for compassion for prisoners, visited the Rebibbia women’s prison on the northeastern outskirts of Rome, where he performed the same rite in 2015.

However, the Daily Mail notes, Thursday marked the first time that an Argentine Jesuit pope dedicated his annual Holy Week ritual exclusively to women.

Sitting in a wheelchair, the Pope washed the feet of each of the prisoners, some in tears, before drying them with a towel and kissing them.

“We all have small failures, big failures,” the pope said in an impromptu homily during a Mass held in the courtyard of the prison, which houses about 370 women.

“But the Lord always waits for us with open arms, and He never tires of forgiving,” added the pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

Washing the feet is “a gesture that draws our attention to the vocation of ministry,” said Francis, who, as a priest in Buenos Aires, has already begun visiting prisoners.

A few minutes earlier, the pontiff had smiled as he shook hands with prisoners.

In England, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby also performed foot washing at St. Paul’s Church in Maidstone, Kent, writes the Daily Mail.

Last month, the Pope contracted the flu, forcing him to cancel several public meetings. During his subsequent recovery, he asked others to read his speeches several times.

In the Christian tradition, Holy Thursday is celebrated on the day when Christ washed the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper. This is the culmination of Holy Week, which commemorates the last days of Christ’s life before his resurrection on Easter, writes the Daily Mail.

Since becoming pope in 2013, the current head of the Catholic Church has frequently visited prisons and refugee centers, including on Maundy Thursday last year, when he visited a juvenile detention center and washed the feet of 12 young people.

On Good Friday, Pope Francis was set to lead a Stations of the Cross prayer service at Rome’s Colosseum, which he was unable to attend last year because he was suffering from a bronchial infection.

Pope Francis looked good as he began four busy days of events leading up to Catholic Easter and renewed his own ordination vow.

Francis, who has recently curtailed his appearances due to fatigue related to bouts of bronchitis and flu, delivered a lengthy homily during the Holy Thursday “Mass of Peace” at St. Peter’s Basilica.

He also greeted two bereaved fathers whose story was told in Irish writer Colum McCann’s 2020 novel.

The pope noted that in Paul VI’s audience hall at the Vatican there were two people – “two fathers” – one Palestinian, the other Israeli.

Bassam’s daughter Aramina Abir was killed in 2007 by an Israeli soldier as she left school; Rami’s daughter Elhanan Smadar was killed in 1997 in an attack in Jerusalem.

The story of the two men’s friendship was told in Colum McCann’s novel Apeirogon, who met with Pope Francis during an audience on June 23, 2023.

“Let us think about the wonderful testimony of these two people who suffered during the war in the Holy Land, losing their daughters,” the Pope said.

During the service, Francis urged priests to be compassionate, to recognize when they have “strayed from the path of holiness” and to avoid dishonesty and hypocrisy.

The pope plans to preside over an Easter vigil on Saturday and then, on Easter Sunday, read his “Urbi et Orbi” message and blessing from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to tens of thousands of people in the square below.