In a Holy Thursday ritual symbolizing humility, Pope Francis washed and dried the feet of a dozen residents of a Rome juvenile prison, assuring them of their dignity and telling them “any of us” can fall into sin. One week after Pope Francis was released from the hospital, having been admitted for a bout of bronchitis, the Vatican announced that he will not preside over his late-night Via Crucis on Good Friday as planned due to the cold weather. In a statement Friday afternoon, the Vatican said that “due to the intense cold in recent days, Pope Francis will follow the Via Crucis this evening from the Casa Santa Marta, uniting himself to the prayer of those who will gather with the Diocese of Rome.” The Associated Press has the story:
Pope to miss Way of the Cross in cold Rome
Newslooks- VATICAN CITY (AP)
Recently hospitalized Pope Francis won’t go to the Colosseum for the traditional Good Friday Way of the Cross procession, but instead will watch it from his home at the Vatican due to unseasonably cold nighttime temperatures in Rome, the Holy See said.
Francis went ahead with an earlyy evening prayer service at St. Peter’s Basilica to mark Good Friday, which recalls the death of Jesus by crucifixion. Wearing crimson-colored vestments, Francis, who has a chronic knee problem, used a wheelchair to reach the central area of the basilica, where he presided over the service.
The 86-year-old pope was discharged from a Rome hospital on April 1 after spending three days there receiving antibiotic treatment of bronchitis. The Vatican said at the time that he would carry out the complete Holy Week schedule, including the Way of the Cross procession and Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.
On Holy Thursday, he presided over a nearly two-hour-long Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica and later went to a Rome juvenile prison where he washed and dried the feet of a dozen residents in a ritual symbolizing humility and recalling Jesus performing the same gesture for his 12 apostles.
While Rome has lately experienced spring-like weather during the day to Rome, temperatures have dipped into the high 30s Fahrenheit (about 4 degrees Celsius) after dark.
“Due to the intense cold of these days, Pope Francis will follow the Way of the Cross this evening from (the) Santa Marta hotel, uniting in prayer with those who will gather with the Diocese of Rome at the Colosseum,” the Vatican said in a brief statement.
The procession usually draws tens of thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Rome residents. Faithful take turns carrying a lightweight cross as meditations and prayers are recited. The pontiff usually watches the procession from a rise overlooking the Colosseum, and ends the event with remarks and a blessing.
Francis is also scheduled to preside at an Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night in the basilica. On Sunday, he is due to be in St. Peter’s Square for a mid-morning Mass. He is expected to deliver a long speech that reviews wars and other conflicts in the world, known by its Latin name, “Urbi et Orbi.”
Pope washes feet in Holy Thursday rite at Rome youth prison
Newslooks- VATICAN CITY (AP)
In a Holy Thursday ritual symbolizing humility, Pope Francis washed and dried the feet of a dozen residents of a Rome juvenile prison, assuring them of their dignity and telling them “any of us” can fall into sin.
The Casal del Marmo facility on the outskirts of Rome is the same juvenile prison where Francis performed the first feet-washing ritual of his papacy, demonstrating his belief that the Catholic Church should give attention to people living on society’s margins.
On Thursday, Francis repeated the ritual on 10 male and two female residents who are serving time at the facility. He leaned over and poured water on one foot of each, then used a white towel to gently pat the foot dry before kissing it.
When Francis looked up at them in turn to smile, they shook his hand and kissed it. Many of the young people whispered into the pope’s ear, and he chatted with them briefly in return.
The ritual recalls the foot-washing Jesus performed on his 12 apostles at their last supper together before he would be taken away to be crucified.
Jesus “washes all our feet,” Francis told several dozen residents assembled in the prison chapel. “He knows all our weaknesses,” the pope said in a completely improvised homily.
Among the 12, six were minors while the others had become adults while serving their sentences. The dozen included a Muslim from Senegal, as well as young people from Romania, Russia and Croatia, the Vatican said.
Francis explained that the foot-washing was “not folklore” but a “gesture which announces how we should be toward one another.” He lamented that “others profit off each other, (there is) so much injustice…so many ugly things.”
Still, he said, “any one of us can slip” and fall from grace. The foot-washing “confers on us the dignity of being sinners.” The lesson, he added, should be to “help one another, so life becomes better.”
The pontiff, who has a chronic knee problem, navigated the small spaces of the chapel either unaided or with the help of a cane, although he used a wheel chair to leave after the roughly 90-minute appearance.
On Saturday, Francis was discharged from a Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis. The Vatican said at the time that he would carry out the complete Holy Week schedule, including the Good Friday late-night Way of the Cross procession at Rome’s Colosseum and Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
Earlier Thursday, he presided over Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica as part of his stamina-testing Holy Week appointments.
At Thursday’s basilica Mass, dozens of rows of priests in simple white cassocks sat in front of rank-and-file Catholics in the packed church.
Francis used the homily as a pep talk to priests, after decades of scandals involving sex abuse of children by clergy caused many faithful to lose trust in their pastors.
The pope didn’t cite the scandals or church hierarchy cover-ups. But, he spoke of “crisis” affecting priests.
“Sooner or later, we all experience disappointment, frustration and our own weaknesses,” Francis said. “Our ideals seem to recede in the face of reality, a certain force of habit takes over, and the difficulties that once seemed unimaginable appear to challenge our fidelity.”
The basilica ceremony traditionally includes the blessing of ointments and priests’ renewal of promises made when they were ordained to the priesthood.
Highlighting the spirit of renewal that the pope indicated the priesthood needs, added to the ointments at this year’s Mass was bergamot perfume that came from trees in southern Italy on land confiscated by authorities from mobsters.
In off-the-cuff remarks during the homily, Francis admonished priests not to “forget being pastors of the people.”
