Pope washes prisoners' feet during Mass of the Lord's Supper

Giotto - Scrovegni Chapel

Source: Vatican Radio/VIS

Pope Francis on Holy Thursday washed the feet of inmates at Paliano Prison, south of Rome, during Mass of Our Lord’s Supper. The Pope traveled to the penitentiary for a private visit and the celebration of Mass marking Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples on the day before his Crucifixion.

In his off-the-cuff homily, Pope Francis invited those present – and all Christians - to serve each other.

"The disciples used to argue about who was the most important amongst them," Pope Francis said. “He who feels or thinks he is important, must become small and be a servant to the others. That is what God – who loves us as we are – does every day.”

Paliano Prison has around 70 inmates. Among those whose feet the Pope washed, were 10 Italians, one Argentinean and one Albanian. Three were women and one was a Muslim who will receive the Sacrament of Baptism this June.

This prison is the only one of its kind in Italy, reserved in particular for former members of criminal gangs who collaborate with police and the judiciary.

A number of vocational training programmes and courses are available, include pottery, bakery, carpentry, farming and bee-keeping. The imates gave the Holy Father baskets of fresh farm produce, eggs, honey and a wooden crucifix.

Pope Francis began the tradition of visiting a prison for the traditional Last Supper Mass in March 2013, just a few days after the inauguration of his pontificate. On that occasion he travelled to Rome’s Casal del Marmo youth detention centre where he included, for the first time, women and Muslims among the inmates whose feet he washed.

The following year, he celebrated the Last Supper Mass at Rome’s Don Gnocchi centre for the disabled, again including women among those who had their feet washed in memory of Jesus’ gesture of humility and service.

In 2015 Pope Francis travelled to Rome’s Rebibbia Prison for the Holy Thursday celebration, while last year he washed the feet of refugees, including Muslims, Hindus and Coptic Orthodox men and women at a centre for asylum seekers in Castelnuovo di Porto, just north of Rome.