Pope Francis “will travel privately” next Holy Thursday to the women’s prison located in the Rebibbia area of Rome to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Holy See Press Office has reported.

There he will meet with prison workers and inmates, according to a brief official statement. The Pontiff visited this penitentiary center once before in 2015.

It has been a tradition during the pontificate of Pope Francis that he travels every Holy Thursday to some place where he can meet with prisoners, refugees, the sick, or people who are destitute in any way. 

Some are then chosen that the Pontiff might wash their feet as the Lord did at the Last Supper with the Apostles. 

In 2013, the pontiff’s first destination was a penitentiary center for minors, the Casal del Marmo. This was followed by, among others, the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation that cares for people with disabilities and mental disorders, a center for asylum seekers in Castelnuovo di Porto, the prison in Paliano, the so-called Regina Coeli prison, and the prison in Velleteri, Italy. 

During 2020 and 2021, due to the Covid19 pandemic, the Pope celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in St. Peter’s Basilica. 

Due to health restrictions, on these two occasions the rite of the washing of the feet was suppressed.

This article was originally published on ACI Prensa

Translated by Jacob Stein