Andrea, Gabriele, Francesco, Clody, Federico, Marco, Pietro, Matteo Giuseppe, Simone, Enrico, and Renzo are not the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, but they acted as such during the celebration of the Holy Thursday liturgy, in the washing of the feet carried out by Pope Leo XIV.
What is most notable about the twelve priestly participants is that eleven of them were ordained by Pope Leo himself last May, just days after his election to the papacy.
All of this took place in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome. This year, Pope Leo resumed the tradition of celebrating the beginning of the Easter Triduum in this papal basilica—Pope Francis had changed it up from the status quo, and instead carried out the washing of the feet in different prisons throughout Rome.
POPE LEO XIV
What the Lord shows us, taking the water, the basin, and the towel, is much more than a moral example. In fact, He gives us His very way of life; washing feet is a gesture that sums up the revelation of God, an exemplary sign of the Word made flesh, His unmistakable memory.
In his homily during the celebration of the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper, Pope Leo recalled the mystery of faith that the Christian people experience in the coming days: Christ's divine, sacrificial, and self-giving love for humanity.
POPE LEO XIV
He does not offer His example when everyone is happy and appreciates Him, but on the night He was betrayed, in the darkness of misunderstanding and violence, so that it may be clear that the Lord does not love us because we are good and pure; He loves us, and therefore He forgives us and purifies us.
This Mass specifically commemorates the Lord’s Last Supper, the event in which the Eucharist was instituted. With it comes the consecration of bread and wine as well as the priesthood.
POPE LEO XIV
In bishops and priests, constituted “priests of the New Testament” according to the Lord’s command, resides the sign of His charity toward all the People of God, whom we are called to serve, dear brothers, with our whole being.
After the consecration, the Pope carried the Blessed Sacrament to the place of repose, in the Chapel of St. Francis. This act symbolizes Jesus Christ's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and surrender to His Passion.
