Pope Francis Rolls On

Because of the young age of the inmates chosen to participate in the traditional Holy Thursday liturgy of the washing of the feet, the service was not televised. But AP Newswire has provided a description of the ritual that was carried on Vatican Radio. Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile center as he had done for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is Pope. Two of the 12 were young women, a remarkable choice given that the church's current liturgical law says only men should participate. Many of the detainees are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the 12 selected for the foot-washing rite included Orthodox and Muslim detainees, news reports said. Because the inmates were mostly minors - the facility houses inmates aged 14-to-21 - the Vatican and Italian Justice Ministry limited media access inside. Francis told the detainees that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion in a gesture of love and service. He said, "Help one another. This is what Jesus teaches us. This is what I do. And I do it with my heart. I do this with my heart because it is my duty, as a priest and bishop I must be at your service." The Vatican released a limited video of the ritual, showing Francis washing black feet, white feet, male feet, female feet and even a foot with tattoos. Kneeling on the stone floor as the 12 youngsters sat above him, the 76-year-old Francis poured water from a silver chalice over each foot, dried it with a cotton towel and then bent over to kiss each one. As archbishop, Francis performed the Holy Thursday liturgy in jails, hospitals or hospices - part of his ministry to the poorest and most marginalized of society. It's a message that he is continuing now that he is Pope, saying he wants a Church "for the poor." Previous Popes would carry out the foot-washing ritual on Holy Thursday in Rome's grand St. John Lateran basilica. The 12 people chosen for the ritual would always be priests to represent Christ's 12 apostles. Pope Francis included two young women among the 12, something extraordinary because Church rules restrict the ritual to men. AP reported that Edward Peters, a canon lawyer and advisor to the Vatican's top court, noted in a blog that the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1988 said in a letter to bishops : "The washing of the feet of chosen men...represents the service and charity of Christ who came 'not to be served, but to serve.'" Peters said that bishops have occasionally successfully petitioned Rome for an exemption to allow women to participate, but that the law on the issue is clear. "In violating his own law on this matter, Francis violates, of course, no divine directive," Peters wrote Thursday. "What he does do, I fear, is set a questionable example." "But the act of Francis in including women is hugely significant because including women in this part of the Holy Thursday Mass has been frowned on - and even banned - in some dioceses," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of "The Jesuit Guide." Father Martin said that Pope Francis' decision to include women was a mirror of the ministry of Christ who included everyone, men, women, Jews, gentiles, slave and free. Pope Francis talked with each of the 12 after the ritual and gave each one an Easter egg. He told them not to give up hope. "Understand? With hope, you can always go on." One of the inmates asked the Pope why he had come to visit them. Francis said it was to "help me to be humble, as a bishop should be." He said he wanted to come "from my heart. Things from the heart don't have an explanation," he said. ~~~~~ Dear readers, Pope Francis rolls on. He has taken a gold-plated papal ring, will not wear red capes, refuses to move into the papal apartment, prefers to be called the Bishop of Rome instead of Pope, and reaches out on a daily basis to ordinary people. The Church is in good hands, and the Ring of the Fisherman is safe. We can only hope that Vatican officialdom and canon lawyers survive -- and even learn a little about what service in the name of Jesus of Nazareth means.