On the evening of April 13 in Kyiv to the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Alexander held a mass with the rite of the washing of the feet; the mass was led by Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican Ambassador) Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti.
On this day the Catholic Church celebrated Maundy Thursday – the day when, according to the gospel narrative, took the last Supper of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles, after which Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. The gospel of John reports a dialogue between Jesus and the Apostle Peter. In response to Peter’s words “will not wash my feet for ever”, Christ said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.” Then Jesus continued: “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash the feet of each other. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you”.
To commemorate this event annually on Great Thursday in all Roman Catholic temples of the world is done by special mass with the rite of feet-washing. Every year, this ritual makes Pope Francis. The role of Jesus in the rite plays the priest, and the role of the apostles – 12 parishioners.
This evening Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, who led the mass, washed the feet of 12 male parishioners from the Catholic Order of the Knights of Columbus.
The Vatican Ambassador also delivered a sermon in which he touched on the importance of this day. “The context of the Lord’s Supper is no less important than the bread and wine that are consecrated during the Liturgy,” he said. “The first is the last Supper of freedom. As we celebrate this Liturgy, we always remember that we were slaves and became free.”
The Archbishop continued that “elements of slavery” are still living in us. “The question we should ask ourselves: what must we be freed?” According to him, first of all should get rid of “slavery of money”, which are “true masters of this world and which largely determined international politics”.
Finally, in the context of the washing of feet that Jesus had done, Claudio Gugerotti said: “It was the most submissive gesture the slaves. When the house slaves, that their first duty was to wash the feet of guests.”
“And so the circle is closed: Easter is born from the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery and ends with the condemnation of Jesus as a servant. But a slave on their own. The Lord, who becomes a slave. The conclusion is very simple: if you want to be a Christian, you have to wash feet each other, from the one who calls the shots. He must become a servant,” – concluded the Archbishop.
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