In keeping with the statement Pope Francis made on Tuesday – in his third “tweet” on the social media outlet Twitter since becoming Pontiff – and as a theme he has emphasized now, in a number of his formal communications:
True power is service. The Pope must serve all people, especially the poor, the weak, the vulnerable.”
Reporting in the National Catholic Observer, John Allen has provided a thoughtful and very comprehensive range of considerations with respect to challenges to the Holy Father's have highlighted the vision of 'a 'Poor Church for the Poor,' especially with regard to financial transparency, 'the nature of the Vatican's wealth, and the balance between 'simplicity and security'
L’Osservatore Romano announced from the Vatican this morning, that Pope Francis will celebrate the traditional Holy Thursday Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the morning, and then at 5:30 in the afternoon His Holiness will celebrate a second Mass, in a juvenile detention facility there in Rome.
The Holy Father has chosen several of the youth in the Casal del Marmo Detention Centre for the customary washing of the feet on Holy Thursday. The Press Office for the Holy See noted that in his capacity as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio had been accustomed to celebrating the Mass of the Lord's Supper “in prisons, hospitals or shelters for the poor and marginalized.”
In the vast complex the incarcerated males are housed in two buildings with 24 rooms each; a third building houses the female section, with another 24 rooms. Scholastic activities take place there, along with exercises for the illiterate. There is also work formation with shops for carpentry, upholstery and pizzerias. For young women there is also a design studio.
It was also pointed out by the Holy See that both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II had also visited that particular juvenile detention facility; and that while Pope Benedict had celebrated Mass there during Lent, it was not actually during Holy Week.
Pope John Paul II visited on the Solemnity of the Epiphany in 1980; and at the time of that visit, Pope John Paul was accompanied by Cardinal Casaroli, who was his Secretary of State – known to the young people simply as ‘Father Agostino.’
There were no additional changes to the ceremonies of Holy Week, and further information about the full schedule will be clarified further by a "Notification from the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff”.
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