Today, on Holy Thursday, Pope Leo XIV is set to wash the feet of 12 priests during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. Source: Vatican News.
The Diocese of Rome issued a statement announcing the names of the 12 priests and saying that 11 of them were ordained last year by Pope Leo XIV, while one, Fr Renzo Chiesa, is the spiritual director of the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary.
At the end of the liturgy, the Pope will carry the Blessed Sacrament to the place of repose, in the Chapel of Saint Francis.
Meanwhile, during his weekly General Audience in St Peter’s Square yesterday, Pope Leo XIV highlighted the important role that lay people play in the Church’s mission in bearing witness to the Gospel, as he continued his reflection on the conciliar document Lumen gentium.
Lay people’s contribution, service and witness is essential to building a Church that reaches out to all and spreads the Gospel, along with justice, charity and peace, Pope Leo XIV said.
“The vast field of the lay apostolate is not confined to the Church, but extends to the world,” he underlined.
“The Church is present wherever her children profess and bear witness to the Gospel: in the workplace, in civil society and in all human relationships, wherever they, through their choices, show the beauty of Christian life, which foretells here and now the justice and peace that will be accomplished in the Kingdom of God.”
Pope Leo XIV continued his catechesis series on the Documents of the Second Vatican Council, reflecting again on the 1964 Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium.
In this week’s catechesis, he highlighted that lay people play an important role in creating a Church that “goes out,” as Pope Francis liked to say, meaning “a Church embodied in history” and “always open” to the mission of bearing witness to the Gospel.
“May the Easter we are preparing to celebrate renew in us the grace to be, like Mary Magdalene, like Peter and John, witnesses of the Risen One,” Pope Leo concluded.
FULL STORY
Pope Leo to wash the feet of 12 Roman priests on Holy Thursday (Vatican News)
Pope at Audience: Lay people help Church reach all and promote peace (By Isabella H. de Carvalho, Vatican News)
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Pope Leo XIV to wash the feet of 12 priests on Holy Thursday, highlighting support for clergy (OSV News)
