Pope Francis decided to wash two women's feet in the traditional Good Thursday ritual of washing of feet. In the past, popes have washed twelve priests' feet, as a symbol of the twelve apostles. Pope Benedict XVI extended this to twelve male prisoners, and the newest Pope has included women in the ceremony--one Italian Catholic and one Serbian Muslim.
The tradition of washing twelve men's feet stems back to the original twelve apostles, and interpretations of the gender of Christ's original followers have dictated church policies concerning women in the priesthood and in other pursuits within the church. It will be interesting to see if the new Pope's symbolic gesture is indicative of changing policies within the church.
The full Huffington Post article can be read here.
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