Ranging from 16 to 86 years of age, nine of the patients were Italian, one was a Muslim from Libya, one was a woman from Ethiopia and one young man was from Cape Verde.

In washing his disciples' feet, Jesus showed all Christians he wanted them to serve others with love, the Pope said.

Two aides assisted the Pope in kneeling and standing up as he washed each patient's feet.

This proved increasingly difficult for the 77-year-old Pontiff.

Before rising, he gave each of the people he washed a long and loving gaze and a broad smile.

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In a chapter entitled Rediscovering Forgotten Features: Scripture, Tradition and Whose Feet May Be Washed on Holy Thursday Night, Rushton conducts a detailed investigation into the feet washing rite.

Her concern is with the little known history of the insertion of the word viri (men) into the feet washing rite, an innovation that she says "departs from tradition which prior to our own time never excluded women formally." She concludes that, "Both scripture and the history of the tradition of the foot washing critique the present rubric as ‘distorting' and gendered."

Rushton is one of three Mercy sisters to contribute to the book, Reinterpreting the Eucharist: Explorations in Feminist Theology and Ethics, which is a collection of writings on the Eucharist by female scholars.

It was launched in Melbourne on 28 February.

Source

• Sisters of Mercy New Zealand
• Image: Patheos