In a significant departure from his predecessor’s practice, Pope Leo XIV marked his first Holy Thursday as Pontiff by restoring the traditional foot-washing of 12 priests.
The ceremony, held at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran on April 2, 2026, signals a formal return to a custom that Pope Francis had moved away from in favor of more inclusive, secular settings.
For 12 years, Pope Francis revolutionized the ritual by washing the feet of women, prisoners, and non-Christians at detention centers and refugee shelters.
Leo XIV, however, chose to focus the rite on the clergy, washing the feet of 11 newly ordained priests and the director of Rome’s primary seminary.
In his homily, the Pope described the act as a “gratuitous and humble gesture” intended to reflect the true nature of God’s power, not through domination, but through self-giving love.
The shift is seen by Vatican observers as part of Leo’s broader mission to reinforce the morale of the Catholic clergy.
Earlier this week, the Pope dedicated his April prayer intentions to “priests in crisis,” urging the faithful to support pastors struggling with loneliness and exhaustion.
By returning the rite to the "Cathedral of Rome" (St. John Lateran), Leo XIV is emphasizing the theological bond between the Eucharist and the ministerial priesthood established at the Last Supper.
While Leo’s style is more traditional than Francis’s, he used his address to condemn the "idolatry" of power and the "blasphemy" of war, maintaining a firm stance on global peace that echoed his predecessor's concerns.