Against the backdrop of the terrorist attack in Brussels, Pope Francis welcomed Muslims, Hindu and Catholic refugees to attend Holy Thursday declaring them all children of the same god while condemning the “gesture of war” that left several people dead.
Holy Thursday is a re-enactment of Jesus washing the apostles’ feet before being crucified. “We have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and we want to live in peace,” Francis said at the event.
Traditionally, the ritual is performed only on groups of 12 Catholics—Vatican rules reserving the gesture for men.
However, Pope Francis bent the otherwise uptight Vatican rules and caused a stir by washing the feet of several women and Muslims at a juvenile detention centre in 2013.
Four women and eight men took part in the ritual on Thursday.
“All of us, together: Muslims, Hindu, Catholics, Copts, Evangelicals. But brothers, children of the same God,” Francis said. “We want to live in peace, integrated,” he added.
He also compared the act of the terrorists in Brussels to that of Judas and claimed that like Judas, who was provoked by others with money, manufacturers and arms dealers who want blood and not peace provoke these acts of terrorism.
