Pope Francis riles conservatives by washing feet of Serbian Muslim woman

By Agence France-Presse
Thursday, March 28, 2013 15:04 EDT

The ritual washing of feet is a gesture of humility based on the belief that Jesus Christ washed the feet of his apostles on the evening of their final meal together before his arrest, crucifixion and death.

Vatican tradition has it that each year on Good Thursday the pope washes the feet of twelve priests of different ages and nationalities in a solemn ceremony held in Rome’s St John Lateran’s Basilica or in St Peter’s Basilica. The priests are seen as representing the apostles.

Though retired pontiff Benedict XVI revised the ritual in 2007 by selecting 12 lay men from Rome for the ceremony, the new Pope Francis shook up Catholic tradition Thursday by choosing to honour not only prisoners, but women as well as men.

Catholic traditionalists believe that all of Jesus’s disciples were male and the historic decision to wash the feet of two girls — one Italian Catholic and one of Serbian Muslim origin — is likely to create friction in some circles.

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/28/ancient-christian-foot-washing-ritual-remembered-on-good-thursday/