PrisonChaplain isn't the only one ministring in prison...

[skippy740]

I'm impressed with the new Pope's example of service.

Pope washes women's feet in break with church law

ROME (AP) — In his most significant break with tradition yet, Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of two young women at a juvenile detention center — a surprising departure from church rules that restrict the Holy Thursday ritual to men.

No pope has ever washed the feet of a woman before, and Francis' gesture sparked a debate among some conservatives and liturgical purists, who lamented he had set a "questionable example." Liberals welcomed the move as a sign of greater inclusiveness in the church.

Speaking to the young offenders, including Muslims and Orthodox Christians, Francis said that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion in a gesture of love and service.

"This is a symbol, it is a sign. Washing your feet means I am at your service," Francis told the group, aged 14 to 21, at the Casal del Marmo detention facility in Rome.

"Help one another. This is what Jesus teaches us," the pope said. "This is what I do. And I do it with my heart. I do this with my heart because it is my duty. As a priest and bishop, I must be at your service."

In a video released by the Vatican, the 76-year-old Francis was shown kneeling on the stone floor as he poured water from a silver chalice over the feet of a dozen youths: black, white, male, female, even feet with tattoos. Then, after drying each one with a cotton towel, he bent over and kissed it.

***Please follow the link to read the entire article***

Edited April 1, 2013 by pam

[Roseslipper]

wow thanks for this article, I for one think it is great!

[SteveVH]

I'm impressed with the new Pope's example of service.

Pope washes women's feet in break with church law

It's a great article with one flaw. It has never been a law of the Church that only men have their feet washed. Traditionally this has been the case because of the symbolism of the washing of the twelve Apostles feet, who were men. At our Holy Thursday Mass last night we washed the feet of seven women and five men. We have been doing this for as many years as I remember in every diocese in which I have been. It may be a break in tradition (with a small 't') and I think it is a wonderful gesture, not just that there were women involved, but that he did it in a detention facility. That is more striking to me. I love this guy. Thanks for the post! :)

[pam]

Interesting all of these things I'm learning that I've always believed were hard and fast rules but more in line with tradition. I'm impressed with this new Pope in breaking away from some of the traditions.

[NeuroTypical]

No pope has ever washed the feet of a woman before

I always wonder about statistics like that, regardless of what they're made about.

Is there some sort of searchable "everything every Pope has ever done in two millenia" database? Or does each Pope have some sort of pontiff-wide report card where the "washed a woman's feet" box has gone unchecked until now?

(Please understand, this isn't anything specific to Popes or Catholicism or even religion in general. This is just me wanting a better source for reference.)

[prisonchaplain]

If he speaks Spanish, which I believe he does, we could use some help out our way. :-)

[SteveVH]

Interesting all of these things I'm learning that I've always believed were hard and fast rules but more in line with tradition. I'm impressed with this new Pope in breaking away from some of the traditions.

Something kind of important, of which you may or may not be aware, is that when we speak of "tradition" in the Catholic Church we can be speaking of two different things entirely. The first is "Tradition" with a captial "T", more formally refered to as "Sacred Tradition". Sacred Tradition is something no pope can break because we believe it is divinely revealed truth, handed down from the Apostles orally, which the Church possessed before the Bible was written or canonized and from which it has derived its doctrines. In fact, Sacred Scripture is only that part of Sacred Tradition commited to writing.

We can also speak of "tradition" with a small "t", and the washing of priest's feet in the Vatican on Hoy Thursday is just that; a tradition in the usual sense of the word, like a family gathering at the old ranch every 4th of July. If this is the sense in which you are speaking you couldn't be more correct and I'm with you all the way.

So Pope Francis will never break Sacred Tradition, but I hope he continues to break many other traditions while leading his flock by example, to live a more Christ-like life. Jesus would not be washing the feet of dignitaries today. He would be in the prisons and in the street.

Edited March 30, 2013 by StephenVH

[SteveVH]

If he speaks Spanish, which I believe he does, we could use some help out our way. :-)

Thanks for what you do, prisonchaplain. You are actully putting flesh on the words of the Gospel. You are doing what Christ would do.

I pray that God will pour out an abundance of grace on your ministry.

Have a blessed Easter.

[rameumptom]

PC is much too humble to publicize the many times he has washed the feet of prisoners. He is clearly more humble than the Pope is.

[pam]

Something kind of important, of which you may or may not be aware, is that when we speak of "tradition" in the Catholic Church we can be speaking of two different things entirely. The first is "Tradition" with a captial "T", more formally refered to as "Sacred Tradition". Sacred Tradition is something no pope can break because we believe it is divinely revealed truth, handed down from the Apostles orally, which the Church possessed before the Bible was written or canonized and from which it has derived its doctrines. In fact, Sacred Scripture is only that part of Sacred Tradition commited to writing.

We can also speak of "tradition" with a small "t", and the washing of priest's feet in the Vatican on Hoy Thursday is just that; a tradition in the usual sense of the word, like a family gathering at the old ranch every 4th of July. If this is the sense in which you are speaking you couldn't be more correct and I'm with you all the way.

So Pope Francis will never break Sacred Tradition, but I hope he continues to break many other traditions while leading his flock by example, to live a more Christ-like life. Jesus would not be washing the feet of dignitaries today. He would be in the prisons and in the street.

Thank you for the clarification. See I have much to learn. :)

[SteveVH]

Thank you for the clarification. See I have much to learn. :)

Don't we all? :)

[SteveVH]

PC is much too humble to publicize the many times he has washed the feet of prisoners. He is clearly more humble than the Pope is.

So, prisonchaplain, how does it feel to be compared to Pope Francis and not found wanting? :)

[SteveVH]

PC is much too humble to publicize the many times he has washed the feet of prisoners. He is clearly more humble than the Pope is.

I seriously doubt that Pope Francis had anything to do with the publicizing of his visit to the prison. That's not his style. By the way, this isn't some extraordinary visit because it was a detention center. It is not at all uncommon for popes to visit prisons and hospitals and orphangages. No one ever hears about it. The only reason this was different was because it was on Holy Thursday which made it very special. As already mentioned it had been a long standing practice to wash the feet of priests and bishops on this day. Not to mention the entire thing, all of the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday) is televised by more than a few networks and broadcast to the whole world. Kind of hard to keep it quiet.

Edited April 3, 2013 by StephenVH

[Guest]

I always wonder about statistics like that, regardless of what they're made about.

Is there some sort of searchable "everything every Pope has ever done in two millenia" database? Or does each Pope have some sort of pontiff-wide report card where the "washed a woman's feet" box has gone unchecked until now?

(Please understand, this isn't anything specific to Popes or Catholicism or even religion in general. This is just me wanting a better source for reference.)

As far as the washing of the feet part of the Papal Holy Thursday celebration, it is a pretty important yearly event that if some Pope would have washed the feet of women on Holy Thursday before, or even celebrated it outside of the major basilicas in Vatican or Rome (to tell you the truth, I don't really know for sure when the Holy Thursday traditional papal services started), there would be some record of it.

It's like General Conference - if the Prophet does something out of the ordinary on General Conference, like hold it outside of Salt Lake City's Temple Square in a Salt Lake City prison, there's a big chance that we, as well as those in future generations would have a record of it.

Edited April 3, 2013 by anatess