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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPope Francis: papal feet washing sparks fears over women priests
Pontiff shocks devotees by washing women's feet, prompting some to question whether he may consider ordaining women
Traditionalists in the Roman Catholic church have expressed concern after Pope Francis became the first pontiff to wash the feet of two women during a Maundy Thursday mass, a move liberals welcomed but some conservatives feared set a worrying precedent.
At the Casal del Marmo youth detention centre on the outskirts of Rome, the Argentinian pope washed and dried the feet of 12 inmates as part of the traditional rite representing Jesus's final act of humility towards his disciples.
He had surprised the Vatican with his decision to wash the prisoners' feet a move that echoed the early years of John Paul II, who once performed the rite in the St John Lateran basilica with a dozen homeless men.
But it was his inclusion of two young women, as well as Muslims, in the ceremony that was the most dramatic break with tradition. It even caused some traditionalists to wonder openly whether Francis, who is doctrinally a theological conservative who has explicitly stated he is against female ordination, might one day be willing to open the priesthood to women.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/29/concern-pope-francis-feet-washing
caraher
(6,276 posts)After all, he washed their feet, too...
And of course the next question: if women become priests, the calamity that ensures is... what?
It just goes to show you how scary you can make the world if you adopt a paranoid conservative mindset.
eridani
(51,907 posts)Hekate
(90,202 posts)The thing I would most like to see Pope Francis do, because I think it would have the most far-reaching ripple effect and would be most likely to succeed, is to let priests marry. The RC church already admits married Episcopalian priests who have decided to convert to Roman Catholicism. So yes there are already, by a roundabout way, married RC priests.
Just do it!
This Pope will be an interesting figure to watch.
Hekate
(90,202 posts)And in a good way.
TalkingDog
(9,001 posts)susanr516
(1,425 posts)I like several of the decisions Pope Francis has made.
undeterred
(34,658 posts)This pope actually seems like he is interested in following the example of Jesus. That's what a Christian should do.