"Pope Francis Defies Tradition, Washes Only Women's Feet in Annual Ritual"

Pope Francis broke with tradition by washing the feet of 12 women at a prison in Rome during a ceremony emphasizing humility, marking the first time a pope has washed the feet of women exclusively during the special annual service. This foot-washing ritual, which takes place on the Thursday before Easter, seeks to imitate Jesus Christ’s act of washing his disciples’ feet the night before he died. Over the years, Francis has taken this ceremony out of Vatican territory and celebrated by washing the feet of prisoners, refugees, and the disabled, and in the early years of his pontificate, he changed church rules to officially include women in the ceremony, a move that initially faced resistance in the Vatican.