At the Rebibbia women's prison, yesterday Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of Holy Thursday. As is customary for the Pontiff, the ritual of the Washing of the Feet was held, a reminder of Christ's gesture with his disciples at the Last Supper. The Pope was welcomed by the director Nadia Fontana: upon his entry in a wheelchair into the courtyard in front of the detention center, he was greeted by applause from the staff and then the detainees, to whom he immediately went to shake hands. The twelve women of various nationalities whose feet the Pope washed are part of a prison population of 360 female detainees (plus a child) at the Capital's penitentiary. Many of the inmates, along with the prison guards, took part in the Mass. To celebrate the Mass that opens the Easter Triduum, Francis has almost always chosen penal institutions: last year it was in the juvenile prison in Rome's Casal del Marmo. In past years, he has always been in Rome, again in the juvenile prison of Casal del Marmo in 2013, at Rebibbia in 2015, and at Regina Coeli in 2018. And then in the maximum-security prison of Paliano (Frosinone) in 2017 and in Velletri in 2019. Due to the restrictions imposed by Covid, the ritual was suspended in 2020 and 2021.
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