Preda Deutsch Website
More content here @ xxnxx, xnxx, filme xxx, xnxx, xxx

Pope washes the feet of twelve disabled women and men By Gerard O'connell (Vatican Insider via CNUA)

April 19, 2014 · 

Share this page:
Share
Pope washes the feet of twelve disabled women and menFrancis washed the feet of 8 men and 4 women at a center for disabled people in Rome on Holy Thursday, as he led the celebration commemorating Jesus Last Supper

 

Pope Francis washed the feet of twelve variously disabled men and women, from different nationalities, ethnic groups and religions on Holy Thursday, at the Don Gnocchi center in Rome for people with permanent or temporary disabilities.  He did so in commemoration of Jesus action in washing the feet of his twelve apostles at the Last Supper in Jerusalem before he was crucified. He arrived early in his blue Ford Focus, and greeted hundreds of people, young and old who had come to see him, before entering the chapel to celebrate the mass commemorating the Last Supper.

 

Some two hundred people including the disabled patients and their relatives, as well as medical and support staff participated at the very prayerful mass, enlivened by music and hymns, at the Santa Maria alla Providenza center in the Casal del Marmo district of Rome, not far from the Juvenile Detention Centre where  he went last year.

 

After the reading of the Gospel account of the Last Supper, Pope Francis explained the significance of the washing of the feet, in a homily that lasted less than two minutes. He recalled that at the time of Jesus the feet of the guests, that were dirty from walking on the dirt roads, were washed by the slaves or servants of the house.  Jesus however did this work of the slave or servant, he said; he washed the feet of his apostles to show them that they were to do likewise, and serve each other. That was the testimony that Jesus left us, he said. His followers are called to serve others, he said. We should ask ourselves how we can better serve others, he concluded.

 

The Pope then knelt and washed the feet of each of the twelve disabled persons: 8 men and 4 women, aged between 16 and 86. One could see it was a big effort for the 77 year old Argentinean Pope, but he did so happily and when he had washed and dried each persons foot, he looked up at the person with a loving smile, and on one occasion shook the persons hand.

 

The twelve were chosen from among the thousands of patients at the 30 Don Gnocchi Foundation healthcare and research centers scattered across Italy.  The Foundation, founded by an Italian priest, Don Gnocchi, 60 years ago, embodies what Pope Francis has termed moving out to the peripheries in search and support of those people society has forgotten or discarded.

Nine were Italian; the others came from Libya, Ethiopia, and Cape Verde. All suffer from physical, neurological and oncological illnesses. Fr Federico Lombardi, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, gave the following brief biographies of those whose feet Pope Francis had washed:

 

  • Osvaldinho, 16, from Cape Verde, had a diving accident last summer and is now completely paralyzed
  • Orietta, 51, a woman from Rome who suffers from an illness that has affected her brain
  • Samuel, 66, has had polio from his youth
  • Marco, 19, high school student and leader of parish Youth Group was diagnosed with a cerebral palsy last year
  • Angelica, 86, from Maenza, former president of Catholic Action in Italy, had hip replacement surgery twice
  • Daria, 39, has suffered with cerebral palsy from her childhood
  • Pietro, 86, struggles with mobility and muscular deficiency
  • Gianluca, 36, he has had numerous operations from the age of 14 as a result of meningitis
  • Stefano, 49,suffers from serious cerebral and motor disorder
  • Hamed, 75, Muslim man originally from Libya,  suffered a traffic accident which caused serious neurological impairment
  • Giordana, 27, from Ethiopia, she suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy
  • Walter, 59, suffers from Down’s Syndrome·

 

Each of these persons has received help and support from the Don Gnocchi Foundation to overcome the difficulties, marginalization and isolation they often face on account of their age or a disability. Before the Popes visit, Dr. Furio Grammatica, Chairperson of the Centre for Innovation and Technology Transfer (CITT) at the Don Gnocchi Foundation, told Vatican Radio that one might think that most of them (the twelve) cannot fully catch the meaning of this visit, but this is definitively not true, even for the most critical cases.
He said that after joined the Foundation 10 years ago he had learned that our guests have all developed a clear sixth sense on how much they are loved, and ­ in a definitively more straight way than us ­ they fully rely on people closer to them, who represent the fondness they feel. Pope Francis is not only a Pope, but an icon of the tenderness and strength at the same time, so they are really excited about meeting him. In the past, Popes had led the Holy Thursday celebration and carried out the washing of the feet in St Peters Basilica, but Francis, following his practice as archbishop in Buenos Aires, prefers to do so in a situation on the periphery of human existence, as he did last year and again this year.
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francesco-francis-francisco-33556//pag/1/
Share this page:
Share

Copyright © 2024 · Preda Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved