Castelnuovo Di Porto, Mar 25: Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic refugees today, declaring them children of the same God, in a gesture of welcome and brotherhood at a time when anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment has spiked following the Brussels attacks.
Francis denounced the carnage as a "gesture of war" carried out by blood-thirsty people beholden to the weapons industry during an Easter Week Mass with asylum-seekers at the shelter in Castelnuovo di Porto, outside Rome.
The Holy Thursday rite re-enacts the foot-washing ritual Jesus performed on his apostles before being crucified, and is meant as a gesture of service.
Francis contrasted that gesture with the "gesture of destruction" carried out by the Brussels attackers, saying they wanted to destroy the brotherhood of humanity represented by the migrants.
"We have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and we want to live in peace," Francis said in his homily, delivered off-the-cuff in the windy courtyard of the centre.
Several of the migrants then wept as Francis knelt before them, poured holy water from a brass pitcher over their feet, wiped them clean and kissed them.
Francis was greeted with a banner reading "Welcome" in a variety of languages as he walked down a makeshift aisle to celebrate the outdoor Mass.
But only a fraction of the 892 asylum-seekers living at the shelter attended, and many of the seats were left empty. Those who came out, though, received a personal greeting: At the end of the Mass, Francis greeted each refugee, one by one, posing for selfies and accepting notes as he moved down the rows.
Vatican rules had long called for only men to participate in the ritual, and past popes and many priests traditionally performed it on 12 Catholic men, recalling Jesus' 12 apostles and further cementing the doctrine of an all-male priesthood.
Francis shocked many Catholics within weeks of his 2013 election by performing the ritual on women and Muslims at a juvenile detention centre. After years of violating the rules outright, Francis in January changed the regulations to explicitly allow women and girls to participate.
The Vatican said today that four women and eight men took part. The women included an Italian Catholic who works at the centre and three Eritrean Coptic Christian migrants. The men included four Catholics from Nigeria, three Muslims from Mali, Syria and Pakistan and a Hindu man from India.
Comments
The god of all that exists and that is in between the skies and the earth...
There is no God but ALLAH & Muhammad pbuh is the last messenger of God...
There are many messenger of ALLAH including the mightiest 5. namely NOAH, IBRAHIM, MOSES, JESUS & MUHAMMAD pbu them all. who conveyed the message of ONENESS of GOD and also reminded people to worship the one GOD, when people in different times deviated and Worshiped man made idols and saints instead of the TRUE GOD who created all. (The only think which GOD doesnt FORGIVE is associating Partners with HIM) So search for TRUE GOD, HE will guide U, If your INTENTION is HONEST (God knows it what is in your heart).
Worship the CREATOR not his CREATION & there is no need to kiss the feet to show this but instead we should SPEAK against the TYRANTS who bomb and KILL the innocents and attack others countries.... It would have been better to pope to STOP the killers entering OTHER countries and making a mess with LIES & DECEPTION and Ruin the peaceful society.
No need to bow down to anybody except ALLAH, The god of all that exists and that is in between them...
God is Almighty. God is not limited to time, place, space and language.
He knows all languages and he is not limited to one place and few timings. Jesus said to do this act in his remembrance. Hence this is followed by the clergy.
He should have done same to George Bush when he was bombing Iraq
Now the pope came to know that we all are from same God, We muslims informing from many years that we all are from one God and the Almighty is ALLAH. Please be muslim in life and follow true Islam. its better for all humans and will be rewarded Heaven hereafter , if not following Islam you all will be taken to Hell hereafter your death. Be aware......................
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