Pope to perform Holy Thursday foot-wash rite at Rome prison

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will wash the feet of 12 inmates at Rome’s central prison during a Holy Week ritual meant to show his willingness to serve others.

The Vatican said Tuesday that Francis will meet March 29 with inmates at the Regina Coeli prison, including those in the special “protected” wing where sexual predators are housed.

Francis has made the Holy Thursday ritual a hallmark of his papacy, part of his insistence that the Catholic Church must go to the margins of society to serve.

His decision five years ago to celebrate his first foot-washing ceremony at a Rome youth detention centre raised eyebrows among conservatives after he washed the feet of women and Muslims as well.