Pope will wash feet of refugees in Easter ritual

Pope Francis will wash the feet of 12 young asylum-seekers to highlight the need for the international community to provide shelter to refugees, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

The pontiff will visit the town of Castelnuovo di Porto north of Rome on Maundy on Thursday, which commemorates Jesus Christ’s Last Supper with the apostles, and perform the Easter ritual there.

“He will kneel in front of 12 asylum-seekers to wash their feet in a gesture... bringing attention to their condition,” Archbishop Rino Fisichella said.

Pope Francis has long called for the global community, and Europe in particular, to open its doors to refugees and step up the fight against xenophobia.

The ceremony is part of the run-up to Easter Sunday, and has seen the Argentine pontiff in the past wash the feet of prison inmates and disabled people.

Shortly after his election in 2013, Pope Francis visited a youth detention centre where he performed the ritual on a group of young inmates including two Muslims — the first Catholic leader ever to do so.

The Vatican did not said on Tuesday if non-Catholics would be among the 12 refugees participating in the Holy Thursday rite at an asylum centre.

Vatican rules had long called for only men to participate in the ritual, recalling Jesus’ 12 apostles and cementing the doctrine of an all-male priesthood. But Pope Francis in January changed the regulations to explicitly allow women to participate.