Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 prisoners during Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Rome’s Rebibbia prison last night.

“I also need to be cleansed by the Lord,” the Pope told the prisoners on Holy Thursday. “And for this, pray during this Mass, so that the Lord also washes my sins and stains, too, so that I become more slave-like in the service of people as Jesus did.”

The Pope washed the feet of six male prisoners from Rebibbia and six female prisoners from a nearby district prison for women. The event marks Jesus’ washing of his disciple’s feet before the Last Supper.

Pope Francis told the prisoners that God ‘never tires of loving, as he never tires of embracing us.’ Quoting Isaiah, he said: “God’s love has no limits—‘Even if a mom forgets her child, I won’t forget you.’ That’s God’s love for us.”

“Jesus is so loving, that he became a slave to serve us, to heal us, to cleanse us,” the Holy Father said. “I also need to be cleansed by the Lord. And for this, pray during this Mass, so that the Lord also washes my sins and stains, too, so that I become more slave-like in the service of people as Jesus did.”

Pope Francis has made a tradition of celebrating Holy Thursday Mass in the company of the marginalised in society, in previous years visiting a juvenile detention centre and a residential rehabilitation centre for disabled people in Rome.

He is seen above kissing the foot of a female inmate last night, before he washed the feet of an African boy detainee as his mother wept.

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