Pope Francis to celebrate Holy Thursday Mass at Rome prison

From CNS:

Pope Francis once again will celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper in a prison and will wash the feet of 12 inmates.

The pope will celebrate the evening Mass on March 29 at Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, the Vatican announced March 20.

Before Mass, the pope will visit sick inmates in the prison infirmary, the Vatican said. He will celebrate the Mass and wash the feet of 12 inmates in the prison’s central rotunda and, afterward, will meet some inmates in the prison’s Section VIII, a protected section of the prison for inmates convicted of sexual crimes and other inmates who could be in danger in the general population.

A former convent built in the 1600s, Regina Coeli has operated as a prison since the 1890s. Although the government says the capacity is just over 600 inmates, the monthly census since March 2017 has been more than 900. More than half of the inmates are non-Italians.

The prison is just over a mile from St. Peter’s Square.

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