Pope Francis visited a fortress prison holding mafia turncoats today (April 13, 2017) and included Muslims and women in a traditional Holy Week foot-washing ritual that previous popes had limited to Catholic men, according to the Reuters website.
Francis said Mass for the 70 inmates of the prison, a 16th century fortress at Paliano 47 miles south of Rome.
During the service, he bent to wash and kiss the right foot of 12 inmates, commemorating Jesus' gesture of humanity towards His 12 apostles on the night before He was crucified.
The high-security prison is reserved almost entirely for prisoners known in Italy as "collaborators of justice," those who testify against their former comrades -- mainly members of the mafia -- and need special protection for doing so.
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