Bishop Morlino & the Mandatum | National Catholic Reporter

Bishop Morlino & the Mandatum | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Francis could wash the feet of young girls precisely because he pays his own hotel bill and forgoes staying in the Papal Apartments (funny name for a palace).  For him,  it is not a publicity stunt, it is who he is.  As for Wilton, he is trying and that is good. No word on whose feet get washed in Atlanta.  As for Morlino, it is probably good for the ritual not to take place in his diocese at all, especially at any Mass at which he presides.  An act of humiliation would be inauthentic from someone who wants to tell us all how to think - and is in support of the culture of wealth when he does so.  Washing the feet of women is a symbol - as potent a symbol of female Altar servers.  Many conservative pastors disallow the practice because it might lead the girls to think they may one day be priests.  I respond that this is exactly the point - which is beyond anything even Francis would do.