While Francis famously abolished the Missal's traditional restriction of women from this liturgy's ritual act of the washing of the feet, the nature of the facility saw the pontiff perform the act on 12 men for the first time since his 2013 election.
Arguably the most-cited visual moment of this pontificate over time, here's video of tonight's iteration of the rite...
...and a house translation of the Pope's brief homily – which, uniquely for a major occasion, he always delivers off the cuff:
I greet you all and thank you for your welcome.-30-
A couple days ago, I received a beautiful letter from some of you who aren't here today, but they said some beautiful things and I'm grateful for what they wrote.
In this prayer, I'm very united to everyone: those who are here and those who are not.
We've heard what Jesus did. It's interesting. The Gospel says how "Jesus, knowing that the Father had taken everything into his hands," while Jesus had all the power, all of it. And then, he begins this gesture of the washing of the feet. It's an act that slaves did in that time, because there wasn't asphalt in the streets then and people had dirty feet when they arrived; when they came to a house for a visit or for lunch, it was the slaves who washed their feet. And Jesus does this: washes the feet. It's the act of a slave: He, who had all power; He, who was the Lord, does a slave's work. And then he urges them all: "Do this also amongst yourselves." That is, serve each other, be brothers in service, not in ambition, not like one who dominates over the other or tramples the other – no – but be brothers in service. You need something, some service? I will do it. This is brotherhood. Brotherhood is humble: it's always at service. And I will make this service – the Church wants the bishop to do this each year, once a year, on Holy Thursday – to imitate the act of Jesus and likewise to do well in his example for himself, that the bishop might not be the most important, but that he must be the greatest servant. And each of you should be servants of each other.
This is the rulebook of Jesus and the rules of the Gospel: the way of serving, not of dominating, of making evil, of humiliating others. Service! Once, when the apostles were fighting among themselves, they talked about "which one is the most important among us," and Jesus took a child and said: "The child. If your heart isn't the heart of a child, you cannot be my disciples." The heart of a kid, simple, humble but a servant. And he adds on something interesting that we can link with tonight's act. He says, "Stay alert: the heads of nations might rule, but it cannot be so among you. The greatest among you must serve the least. Who feels himself greatest should be the servant." All of us too much be servants. It's true that, in life, there are problems: we fight each other... but this should be something passing, a fleeting thing, because in our heart there always has to. be that love of serving the other, of being at somebody else's service.
And may this act I make tonight be for all of us an act that helps us to be better servants of each other, better friends, better brothers in service. With this in mind, let us continue with the washing of the feet.