Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Christian and Hindu
refugees on Thursday and declared them all children of the same God, as
he emphasised solidarity with other faiths at a time of increased
anti-Muslim sentiments following the attacks on Brussels which killed
over 30.
Pope Francis denounced the carnage as a “gesture of war” carried out by
bloodthirsty people beholden to the weapons industry during an Easter
Week Mass with asylum-seekers at a shelter in Castelnuovo di Porto,
outside of Rome.
The Holy Thursday rite re-enacts the foot-washing ritual Jesus performed
on his apostles before being crucified, and is meant to be a gesture of
service. Francis contrasted that gesture with the “gesture of
destruction” carried out by the Brussels attackers, saying they wanted
to destroy the brotherhood of humanity represented by the migrants.
"We have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and we
want to live in peace,” Francis said in his homily, delivered
off-the-cuff in the windy courtyard of the court.
Several of the migrants then wept as Francis knelt before them, poured
holy water from a brass pitcher over their feet, wiped them clean and
kissed them.
Francis was greeted with a banner reading “Welcome” in a variety of
languages as he walked down a makeshift aisle to celebrate the Mass. But
only a fraction of the 892 asylum-seekers living at the shelter
attended, and many of the seats were left empty. Those who came out,
though, received a personal greeting from the Pope at the end of Mass,
with the pontiff even posing for selfies and accepting notes as he moved
down the rows.
Vatican rules had long called for only men to participate in the
foot-washing ritual, and previous popes and many priests traditionally
performed it on 12 Catholic men, symbolising Jesus’ 12 apostles and
further cementing the doctrine of an all-male priesthood.
The Vatican said on Thursday that four women and eight men took part.
The women included an Italian Catholic who works at the centre and three
Eritrean Coptic Christian migrants. The men included four Catholics
from Nigeria, three Muslims from Mali, Syria and Pakistan and a Hindu
man from India.
The Vatican’s new norms said anyone from the “people of God” could be
chosen to participate in the ceremony. While the phrase “people of God”
refers to baptized Christians, the decree also said that pastors should
instruct “both the chosen faithful and others so that they may
participate in the rite consciously, actively and fruitfully,”
suggesting that the rite could be open to non-Catholics as well.
The Vatican spokesman, the Reverend Federico Lombardi, said the Vatican
norms are meant for traditional liturgies in Catholic communities, not
necessarily a unique papal Mass where the overall message is one of
universal brotherhood and the love of God for all his children.
"We must always take the pastoral context into account," Lombardi said
in an email. “Norms that are appropriate for a parish celebration aren’t
to be considered binding on a very unique celebration of the pope in a
refugee center with a non-Christian majority."
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