Advertisement
Pope Francis encouraged the priests to turn their gaze upon the crucified Lord and weep over their sins in repentance, saying tears can “purify and heal the heart.”
The devotion involves traveling to seven local churches after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on the evening of Holy Thursday.
The schedule includes five papal liturgies, Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum, and other traditions to mark the most sacred week of the year.
On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis presided over a chrism Mass at which more than 1,880 priests, bishops, and cardinals renewed the promises made at their ordinations.
Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young men and women, inmates at a juvenile prison in Rome, during a Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday.
Less than a week after being released from Gemelli Hospital, where he was being treated for bronchitis, Pope Francis will preside over Holy Thursday Mass at Casal del Marmo juvenile prison and wash the feet of inmates.
The pope will visit the prison of Civitavecchia, outside Rome.
Fr. Livinius Esomchi Nnamani, who was ordained to the priesthood in his hospital room on Holy Thursday with special permission from Pope Francis, has died of leukemia at the age of 31.
Pope Francis told priests at Thursday’s Chrism Mass at the Vatican that “the cross is non-negotiable” when preaching the Gospel.
Pope Francis recalled the priests who have lost their lives during the coronavirus crisis as he offered the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in a nearly empty St. Peter’s Basilica.
Here is the full text of Pope Francis' Holy Thursday homily, delivered April 9 at the Basilica of St. Peter.