Pope Francis returned to the Casal del Marmo prison to repeat the foot washing of the prisoners as in his first year as the highest Catholic hierarch, after the resignation of Benedict XVI.
In the midst of his recovery from a respiratory infection, the Pontiff visited the inmates in the center for minors on the outskirts of Rome and recalled that “Jesus knows all our weaknesses”, while beginning the ritual of the Lord’s Supper in this Holy Thursday when washing the feet of 10 condemned men and two women, replicating the actions of Jesus Christ with his 12 apostles before being crucified.
During the ceremony that he commonly performs in refugee centers, prisons, and even shelters, he approached six minors with sentences and people of different races and religions, because among the prisoners whose feet he cleaned, dried, and kissed was a Muslim. —in the middle of Ramadan— and three foreigners, one of them Russian.
A fact that the chaplain of Marmo, Nicolo Ceccolini, highlighted when detailing that there is a “variegated” community and that the same boys as 10 years ago when he visited them for the first time are no longer there, but they are moved by the ceremony knowing that someone ” important” visits them.
Jorge Bergoglio highlighted in the impromptu homily that this act is “a gesture of how we should be with each other” regardless of the sins committed, because in this life we can all slip, remembering that there are people sentenced there for minor charges such as robbery or drug trafficking or even serious crimes such as homicide.
A few days after calling the Catholic community to reflect on the deep pain and exclusion in a world where injustices prevail, he insisted that this Holy Week God gives us the opportunity to “help each other” and teach ourselves ” the nobility of the heart” by example, because he loves everyone equally.
In addition, on his tour of the prison in Rome, where he was seen walking without the support of his cane, the Vatican highlighted that he spoke briefly with the prisoners, as some of the participants in the ritual whispered requests in his ear, after kiss or hold the hand of someone who was hospitalized last week, although the details of those prayers were not disclosed.
Earlier, during Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis admitted that the Church is facing a crisis, without referring to any specific scandal. Faced with the newly ordained priests, he called not to offend that institution, since he pointed out that there are clergymen who insult with divisions instead of becoming “temples of the Holy Spirit.”
Likewise, the Argentine-born Pontiff pointed out that the current situation at the international level and in the Church increases “disappointment and frustration”, because it exposes the weaknesses of both individuals and governments, this during a religious ceremony in the Vatican that included the Anointing of the Sick.
