Chennai

Breaking the norm of performing it on it on 12 Catholic men, Pope Francis visited a refugee centre in Castelnuovo di Porto, outside Rome to wash and kiss the feet of Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic refugees this year. It is being seen as a welcome gesture at a time when anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment has risen, especially after the Brussels and Paris attacks. Vatican rules had long called for only men to participate in the ritual, and past popes and many priests traditionally performed the ritual with Catholic men only further cementing the doctrine of an all-male priesthood. But after years of violating the rules outright, Francis in January 2016 changed the regulations to explicitly allow women and girls to participate. And now he has included the immigrants and refugees as well. The photo has been doing the rounds on social media and is being seen as a symbol of hope.

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