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Taroudante – Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu, and Catholic refugees during Holy Thursday celebrations, in a gesture to promote tolerance at a time when anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment has spiked following the Brussels attacks.
Addressing nearly 900 asylum-seekers at a migrant reception center in Castelnuovo di Porto, north of Rome, the pontiff said “All of us together: Muslims, Hindus, Catholics, Copts, Evangelicals. But all brothers and children of the same God,” adding that “We want to live together in peace.”
Three Muslims were among the twelve refugees who took part in the rituals of the Holy Thursday celebration, which reenacts the foot-washing Jesus performed on his apostles before being crucified.
The gesture was also meant as a gesture of service and welcome.
The Pope highlighted the need for brotherhood and tolerance despite people’s different religions and cultures.
“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 remarks in the windy courtyard of the center.
Several migrants could not help but break into tears as the Pope humbly knelt before them, poured holy water from a brass pitcher over their feet, wiped them clean, and kissed them.
According to the Vatican rules, the feet-washing ritual concerns only twelve Catholic men, who symbolically represent the twelve apostles of Jesus. However, Pope Francis broke the rules when performed the ritual on women and Muslims at a juvenile detention center only weeks after his 2013 election.
The migrants were very happy at the visit of the Pope, receiving him with banners of “welcome” written in different languages.
