Story highlights
- Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 people at a home for the elderly and disabled
- Ceremony is traditionally carried out on Holy Thursday, to remember Jesus' Last Supper
- Until last year, pontiff washed the feet of members of the clergy
- Pope Francis broke with tradition, to include "ordinary" people; women and non-Christians
The washing of feet was a radical act in Jesus' time. It is no less radical in the modern era, with Pope Francis' decision to break with the long-standing papal tradition of washing only priests' feet, to include women and non-Christians in the symbolic ceremony.
The controversy began on Holy Thursday last year when Pope Francis washed the feet of two women and two Muslims at a juvenile detention center in Rome. Before this, modern Popes had only ever washed the feet of 12 priests at the Vatican, during the Mass for the Last Supper.
This year, Pope Francis visited a home for the elderly and disabled, the Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, to wash the feet of "12 disabled people of different ages, ethnicities and religious confessions," during a special Lord's Supper Mass, according to the Vatican.
Those chosen for the special honor included a 16-year-old boy from Cape Verde who was paralyzed in a diving accident last year, a 19-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and two 86-year-olds with mobility problems.
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the Roman Catholic Church's 266th Pope on March 13, 2013. The first pontiff from Latin America was also the first to take the name Francis. It was a sign of maverick moves to come.
Hide Caption
1 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – Pope Francis at the reception desk of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI residence, where he paid the bill for his stay during the conclave that would elect him leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
Hide Caption
2 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – Pope Francis embraced a young boy with cerebral palsy in March 2013, a gesture that many took as a heartwarming token of his self-stated desire to "be close to the people."
Hide Caption
3 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – Pope Francis washes the feet of juvenile offenders, including Muslim women, as part of Holy Thursday rituals in March 2013. The act commemorates Jesus' washing of the Apostles' feet during the Last Supper.
Hide Caption
4 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – Crowds swarmed Pope Francis last July as he made his way through World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to the Vatican, 1 million people turned out to see the Pope.
Hide Caption
5 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – During an impromptu press conference on the plane from Brazil to Rome, the Pope uttered five now-famous words about gay priests: "Who am I to judge?" Many saw the move as the opening of a more tolerant era in the church.
Hide Caption
6 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – In August, Pope Francis and Italian teens took what is likely the first papal selfie, another indication of the Pope's down-to-earth charm.
Hide Caption
7 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – Pope Francis has eschewed fancy cars, instead choosing to drive a white Renault 4L. And he told priests and bishops to do the same.
Hide Caption
8 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – Pope Francis embraced Vinicio Riva, a man with a rare skin disease, in November. The images went viral, with even atheists expressing admiration for the gesture.
Hide Caption
9 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – Pope Francis marked his 77th birthday on December 17 by hosting homeless men to a Mass and a meal at the Vatican. One of the men brought his dog.
Hide Caption
10 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – Pope Francis jokes with members of the Rainbow Association, which uses clown therapy in hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages. Many Catholics saw this image as the joyful flip side of Francis' embrace of the disfigured man.
Hide Caption
11 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – In December, Time magazine named Pope Francis its Person of the Year, lauding him as "the people's Pope."
Hide Caption
12 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis' first year
Pope Francis' first year – In another papal first, Pope Francis made the cover of Rolling Stone in January. The magazine praised his "obvious humility" and "empathy."
Hide Caption
13 of 13
Photos: Pope Francis
Photos: Pope Francis
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, left, reads aloud words engraved on a pen as he meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Friday, December 16, 2016. The words "The bullets have written our past, education will write our future" are engraved on the pen, made from a recycled bullet once used in the civil war between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The pen was later used to sign the peace agreements between the parties earlier this year. Santos, who was awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the region's longest-running conflict, presented Pope Francis with the pen.
Hide Caption
1 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis accepts a letter from a child he visited at a pediatric hospital in Rome on Thursday, December 15, 2016.
Hide Caption
2 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis poses with members of the International Catholic Rural Association at the Vatican on Saturday, December 10, 2016.
Hide Caption
3 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis salutes the faithful upon his arrival in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for the Special Jubilee Papal Audience on Saturday, October 22, 2016.
Hide Caption
4 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis looks on with joy as he releases a dove as a symbol of peace during a meeting with the Assyrian Chaldean community at the Catholic Chaldean Church of St. Simon Bar Sabbae in Tbilisi, Georgia, on September 30, 2016.
Hide Caption
5 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis passes the main entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former concentration camp in Poland, on Friday, July 29, 2016. The Pope was there to pay tribute to those who died in the Holocaust.
Hide Caption
6 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis looks on as Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II celebrates the Divine Liturgy at the Apostolic Cathedral in Etchmiadzin, outside Yerevan, Armenia, on June 26, 2016.
Hide Caption
7 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis arrives to celebrate an extraordinary Jubilee Audience as part of ongoing celebrations of the Holy Year of Mercy in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on May 14, 2016.
Hide Caption
8 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis hugs a child at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Pope Francis received an emotional welcome on the island during a visit showing solidarity with migrants fleeing war and poverty.
Hide Caption
9 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis confesses in St. Peter's Basilica during the Vatican's Penitential Celebration on Friday, March 4, 2016.
Hide Caption
10 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis tries on a traditional sombrero he received as a gift from a Mexican journalist on Friday, February 12, 2016, aboard a flight from Rome to Havana, Cuba. The voyage kicked off his weeklong trip to Mexico. With his penchant for crowd-pleasing and spontaneous acts of compassion, Pope Francis has earned high praise from fellow Catholics and others since he succeeded Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013.
Hide Caption
11 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis arrives for his visit with prisoners in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on Friday, July 10, 2015. The Pope emphasized the plight of the poor during his eight-day tour of South America, which also included stops in Ecuador and Paraguay.
Hide Caption
12 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Bolivian President Evo Morales presents the Pope with a gift of a crucifix carved into a wooden hammer and sickle -- the Communist symbol uniting laborers and peasants -- in La Paz, Bolivia, on Wednesday, July 8, 2015.
Hide Caption
13 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis greets a crowd of Italian Catholic boy scouts and girl guides at St. Peter's Square on Saturday, June 13, 2015.
Hide Caption
14 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, June 10, 2015. The Pope gave Putin a medallion depicting the angel of peace, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said. The Vatican called it "an invitation to build a world of solidarity and peace founded on justice." Lombardi said the pontiff and President talked for 50 minutes about the crisis in Ukraine and violence in Iraq and Syria.
Hide Caption
15 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis meets with Cuban President Raul Castro at the Vatican on Sunday, May 10, 2015. Castro thanked the Pope for his role in brokering the rapprochement between Havana and Washington.
Hide Caption
16 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
The Pope prays face down on the floor of St. Peter's Basilica during Good Friday celebrations at the Vatican on Friday, April 3, 2015.
Hide Caption
17 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis touches a child's face as he arrives for a meeting at the Vatican on Friday, March 6, 2015.
Hide Caption
18 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Hindu priest Kurukkal SivaSri T. Mahadeva presents a shawl to Pope Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday, January 13, 2015.
Hide Caption
19 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
The Pope attends Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City in December 2014.
Hide Caption
20 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I address the faithful in Istanbul on Sunday, November 30, 2014.
Hide Caption
21 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis speaks during the feast-day Mass while on a one-day trip to Italy's Calabria region in June 2014. The Pope spoke out against the Mafia's "adoration of evil and contempt for the common good," and declared that "Mafiosi are excommunicated, not in communion with God."
Hide Caption
22 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis prays next to a rabbi at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City in May 2014. The Pope went on a three-day trip to the Holy Land, and he was accompanied by Jewish and Muslim leaders from his home country of Argentina.
Hide Caption
23 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
The Pope meets the faithful as he visits the Roman Parish of San Gregorio Magno in April 2014.
Hide Caption
24 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with the Pope during their one-day visit to Rome in April 2014.
Hide Caption
25 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Francis speaks with US President Barack Obama at the Vatican in March 2014.
Hide Caption
26 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
The Pope blesses the altar at Rome's Basilica of Santa Sabina as he celebrates Mass on Ash Wednesday in March 2014.
Hide Caption
27 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Daniele De Sanctis, a 19-month-old dressed as the pope, is handed to Francis as the pontiff is driven through the crowd in St. Peter's Square in February 2014.
Hide Caption
28 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Wind blows the papal skullcap off Pope Francis' head in February 2014.
Hide Caption
29 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
A lamb is placed around Francis' neck in January 2014 as he visits a living nativity scene staged at a church on the outskirts of Rome.
Hide Caption
30 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis meets with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Vatican in December 2013. Benedict surprised the world by resigning "because of advanced age." It was the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years.
Hide Caption
31 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis marked his 77th birthday in December 2013 by hosting homeless men at a Mass and a meal at the Vatican. One of the men brought his dog.
Hide Caption
32 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis embraced Vinicio Riva, a disfigured man who suffers from a non-infectious genetic disease, during a public audience at the Vatican in November 2013. Riva then buried his head in the Pope's chest.
Hide Caption
33 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Pope Francis jokes in November 2013 with members of the Rainbow Association Marco Iagulli Onlus, which uses clown therapy in hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages.
Hide Caption
34 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
A young boy hugs Francis as he delivers a speech in St. Peter's Square in October 2013. The boy, part of a group of children sitting around the stage, played around the Pope as the Pope continued his speech and occasionally patted the boy's head.
Hide Caption
35 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Francis has eschewed fancy cars. Here, Father Don Renzo Zocca, second from right, offers his white Renault 4L to the Pope during a meeting at the Vatican in September 2013.
Hide Caption
36 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Francis has his picture taken inside St. Peter's Basilica with youths who came to Rome for a pilgrimage in August 2013.
Hide Caption
37 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
During an impromptu news conference in July 2013, while on a plane from Brazil to Rome, the Pope said about gay priests, "Who am I to judge?" Many saw the move as the opening of a more tolerant era in the Catholic Church.
Hide Caption
38 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Crowds swarm the Pope as he makes his way through World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in July 2013. According to the Vatican, 1 million people turned out to see the Pope.
Hide Caption
39 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Francis frees a dove in May 2013 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
Hide Caption
40 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Francis embraces a young boy with cerebral palsy in March 2013 -- a gesture that many took as a heartwarming token of the Pope's self-stated desire to "be close to the people."
Hide Caption
41 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
The Pope washes the feet of juvenile offenders, including Muslim women, as part of Holy Thursday rituals in March 2013. The act commemorates Jesus' washing of the Apostles' feet during the Last Supper.
Hide Caption
42 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Francis stands at the reception desk of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI residence on March 14, 2013, where he paid the bill for his stay during the conclave that would elect him leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
Hide Caption
43 of 44
Photos: Pope Francis
Francis, formerly known as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected the Roman Catholic Church's 266th Pope in March 2013. The first pontiff from Latin America was also the first to take the name Francis.
Hide Caption
44 of 44
Pope condemns clergy who sexually abused 02:14
Queen and Pope keep agenda private 02:32
The 78-year-old pope smiled at each of the people whose feet he washed, but clearly struggled to get up from his knees as he moved down the line; two assistants helped him to his feet. He appeared to tire towards the end of the short ceremony.
The tradition of the pontiff washing his priests' feet is based on a passage of the Bible which says that Jesus attended to his disciples at the Last Supper, saying, "If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." (John 13:15)
Vatican ecclesiastical rules say that only "adult males" may have their feet washed at the Mass of the Last Supper (according to the Roman Missal, 2002), following the biblical tradition that Jesus washed the feet of 12 men.
The choice of 12 priests is also symbolic of Jesus' institution of the priesthood, which according to Catholic tradition, occurred at the Last Supper.
For many years, however, bishops around the world received permission from the Vatican to wash the feet of women as well in their churches.
In fact, when the now-Pope was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, he washed the feet of young mothers at a maternity hospital in 2005.
And it wasn't the first -- or last -- time his choice would provoke debate: In 2001, he washed and kissed the feet of 12 AIDS patients at a hospice in the Argentinian capital, and in 2008, he washed the feet of recovering drug addicts at a rehab center in the city.
But until last year, no pope had dared to go against Vatican rules and choose anyone but priests for the Holy Thursday event. In choosing to change the practice, Francis is being as radical as Jesus was in his own time.
"According to the Talmud, the washing of feet was forbidden to any Jew except those in slavery," the US Conference of Catholic Bishops says in its Holy Thursday Mandatum.
"Jesus' action of washing the feet of his disciples was unusual for his gesture went beyond the required laws of hospitality (washing of hands) to what was, in appearance, a menial task."
Obama and Francis to meet at the Vatican 02:10
Pope Francis' most irresistible moments 02:19
'Rock star' pope shakes up Vatican 02:24
Pope Francis' peace doves attacked 00:31
By eschewing traditional practice, Pope Francis is emphasizing the spirit rather than the letter of the law -- something Jesus himself did by breaking with Jewish tradition in washing his disciples' feet.
And the spirit, or meaning, behind washing the feet of another person is one of humility and service -- that through the act, the leader becomes a servant to his followers.
The Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship says that foot-washing "represents the service and charity of Christ, who came 'not to be served, but to serve.'"
According to Vatican spokesman Father Thomas Rosica, Francis' gesture in 2013 was one of humility and service, intended to "embrace those on the fringes of society."
From the beginning of his papacy, the pope himself has been on the "fringes" of long-standing Vatican protocol, for example by choosing to live outside of the papal palace and eschewing traditional papal garments and modes of transport.
In breaking the rules of foot-washing at the Vatican, the Pope is acknowledging what has been a practice in local churches for some time, and also reminding Catholics that the important thing is not whose foot is being washed, but the spirit behind that gesture.
