Pope Francis changes rite to include women

At that time Fr Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, described the Holy Father’s actions as a “very handsome and simple gesture of a father who desired to embrace those who were on the fringes of society; those who were not refined experts of liturgical rules.’ An expert then told the SCO that while ‘the rubrics do specify males” for the washing of the feet, the bishop can grant a dispensation for good reason and, as Bishop of Rome, the Pope dispensed himself from this particular rubric given the very unusual pastoral situation of his visit to the prison’.

Pope Francis is flanked by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia and Father Leonardo Sapienza at the end of an audience with workers of the Catholic Shrines in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.

Gomez kisses the foot of a woman during Holy Thursday Mass in 2014 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. For Roman Catholics, the ritual is associated with the Last Supper, before which Jesus washed the feet of his 12 apostles. Priests can now choose participants from among “all God’s people”, the sources said.

(CNN) – Pope Francis has declared that women should be included in foot-washing ceremonies on Holy Thursday during Easter week, a move long awaited by Western women.

A decree issued on the pope’s behalf by Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea said Jesus had “given his life for the salvation of all of humanity” and the group should be a mix of men, women, old people, young people, the sick and the healthy. It was a tradition he began as archbishop in Buenos Aires.

“This is great news, a wonderful step forward”, said Erin Hanna, co-director of the U.S.-based Woman’s Ordination Conference, which promotes a female Catholic priesthood. And perhaps most important of all, he has shifted the Catholic conversation from what the Church is against – secularism and relativism – to what it is for: the poor, mercy and the created world. He has held these services in a home for the elderly and has even washed the feet of Muslims, which outraged many Catholics.

While some dioceses in the United States and elsewhere already allowed women to participate in the rite, many others did not, said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author.