some interesting notes on Pope Francis from the National Catholic Reporter: --he's a Vatican outsider: he's never worked inside the Vatican --his reputation for personal simplicity is an undeniable appeal – a Prince of the Church who chose to live in a simple apartment rather than the archbishop's palace, who gave up his chauffeured limousine in favor of taking the bus to work, and who cooked his own meals. --in 2001, he visited a hospice to kiss and wash the feet of 12 AIDS patients. --In September 2012, he delivered a blistering attack on priests who refuse to baptize children born out of wedlock, calling it a form of "rigorous and hypocritical neo-clericalism."
Christ kissed and washed the feet ofthe Apostles the night before the Last Supper. The priest does this at the Holy Thursday mass every year.
That's fine, still a little weird. I'm not blaspheming or making fun of this as I know the biblical stories that involve this action but to me it's a little weird. That's all I'm saying.
It's part of the service on Holy Thursday in every Catholic church worldwide. Every priest does it every year on Holy Thursday, just like Jesus did. On Holy Thursday in 2001, he visited a hospice, and washed and kissed the feet of AIDS patients, an act of humility that recalls Jesus at the feet of his apostles. As he carried out this deed, Bergoglio said he had choose the hospice "to express how close the church is to those who must suffer pain and discrimination."
