14 DAY TRIAL // This year on Holy Thursday, the new Catholic pope celebrated the feet washing ritual at a prison in Rome, adding a modern twist to it.
In accordance with a tradition he started as archbishop of Buenos Aires, the pope chose 12 inmates between the ages of 14 and 21 for the ritual, and two of them were women.
Even more irregular is that one of the women wasn't even Catholic, she was a Muslim Serbian native, according to the Telegraph.
So far, the tradition has only included men as a portrayal of the all-male apostles, and I believe that Pope Francis is sending the message that the Catholic church will only grow by exhibiting tolerance.
“It is not in soul-searching or constant introspection that we encounter the Lord. [...] We need to go out to the outskirts where there is suffering, bloodshed, blindness that longs for sight, and prisoners in thrall to many evil masters,” he preached during the St. Peter’s mass.