VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis on Holy Thursday hailed priests and medical staff who tend to the needs of COVID-19 patients as “the saints next door.” Francis celebrated the Holy Week evening Mass in St.
Peter’s Basilica, which was kept off-limits to the public because of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus.
The same precautions forced the pope to forego a symbolic ritual traditionally observed on the Thursday before Easter — washing the feet of others in a sign of humility.
Last year, he performed the ritual washing on the feet of 12 inmates at a prison near Rome. The ritual re-enacts Jesus' washing the feet of his 12 Apostles at their last supper before he was crucified.