Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 prisoners Thursday and urged them to serve one another as brothers, as he ushered in the solemn pre-Easter rituals made more poignant this year following the devastation of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral.
Francis travelled to a prison in Velletri, outside Rome, for the Holy Thursday service that re-enacts the biblical story of Christ washing the feet of his disciples. The Mass opens the most solemn period in the liturgical calendar, leading up to the commemoration of Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter.
Francis has frequently performed the Holy Thursday ceremony at prisons to reinforce his message that even the most important figures must serve the most marginal like slaves, as Jesus did in washing the feet of his disciples.
"The bishop isn't the most important. The bishop must be the most servant-like," Francis said.
Directing his message at the prisoners themselves, Francis urged them to not try to dominate one another, and to make the fights that break out between them a "fleeting thing."
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