Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Pope washes feet of young offenders in prison - including two women - in traditional Easter ritual

 

Thursday 28 March 2013 20:49 GMT
Comments
Pope Francis washes the feet of a prisoner at the Casal Del Marmo Youth Detention Centre
Pope Francis washes the feet of a prisoner at the Casal Del Marmo Youth Detention Centre (Getty Images/2013 L'Osservatore Romano)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 young offenders at a Rome detention centre yesterday – and for the first time included two women in the traditional Easter ritual.

The pontiff travelled to Casal del Marmo prison for the Holy Thursday Mass commemorating Jesus’s gesture of humility towards his apostles the night before he was crucified.

While Pope Francis, 76, included women in the rite when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, it was the first time women had taken part in a papal Holy Thursday service – and the first time in living memory that it was not held either in St Peter’s Basilica or the Basilica of St John Lateran, the papal cathedral church in the Vatican City.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in