Pope Francis is set to continue his annual foot-washing tradition this Easter; he will wash the feet of 12 prisoners at Rome's Regina Coeli prison on March 29.
The visit will include celebration of the Maundy Thursday Mass, the Vatican said, according to the Catholic Herald. Before the foot-washing takes place, he will visit invalids at the prison's infirmary. Following the Mass and the ceremonial washing, he will meet inmates from Section VIII of the prison, a specially protected area for those convicted of sexual misconduct or those at risk from other prisoners.
Francis begun his own foot-washing tradition early on in his papacy, travelling to the Casal del Marmo youth detention centre in 2013 and washing the feet of women and Muslim inmates. He has continued the practice in different locations every year, frequently with a focus on those suffering or regarded as social outcasts, be they criminal offenders male and female, the elderly or the disabled.
In 2016 he visited asylum seekers near Rome, and washed the feet of refugees from different religions including Orthodox Copts, Hindus and Muslims. In 2017 he visited inmates at Italy's maximum security Paliano prison.
The tradition, imitating Christ's humility in serving the 12 disciples soon before his death, became part of the Catholic Holy Thursday Mass in the 1950s.
