Pope Francis not dancing to Cristina’s tune

From Fausta's Blog

The Economist points out that

A discomfited government puts a brave face on the election of Pope Francis, while its propagandists use history as a political weapon

Cristina rushed to present the Pope with a nice mate set, like the ones you can buy at Ezeiza airport, and unwrapped it for him,

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An item not making the evening news is Pope Francis holding Mass in a jail's chapel and washing the feet of some prisoners. How many church functionaries will follow suit?

As I understand it, Pope Benedict did the same thing after he was made pope.

Benedict did say Mass at the same prison...but not on Holy Thursday.

The Sacred Page: Don't forget - Benedict XVI said Mass at the same prison Pope Francis will next Holy Thursday. Here was his amazing homily...

Pope Francis Calls To Cancel Newspaper Delivery in Argentina

by Dr. Susan Berry22 Mar 2013 @ Pope Francis Calls To Cancel Newspaper Delivery in Argentina

According to Catholic News Agency (CNA), Pope Francis had some unfinished business in Argentina to take care of this week:cancelling his daily newspaper subscription.

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Pope Francis Washes Prisoners' Feet on Holy Thursday

As the Roman Catholic Church settles into its new era under its first pope named Francis, it seems the spirit of the pontiff’s saintly namesake may be inspiring him to break with tradition

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Read more @ Pope Francis Washes Prisoners' Feet on Holy Thursday

Why did he was their feet? I get why Jesus did because in his culture it was a symbol of humility and people walked around on dusty roads with sandals, but doing it now just seams like pointless symbolicism, the whole POINT of that was that Jesus was saying that a christian should serve others and be humble, not to do some meaningless symbolism (like the pharasees did).

Maybe if he did something like cook a meal for them, petition for their release, work for better conditions or whatever, and do it without all the symbolism and cameras it would be an actual christian act.

I like the new pope, I like his attitude and his viewpoint on christian ethics, but stuff like this, pointless symbolism is a little rediculous.

The act of washing of feet is to demonstrate that the person washing is the servant of those whose feet are being washed. It is an act of humility, and therefore quintessentially Christian.

ChuckBerry said:

The act of washing of feet is to demonstrate that the person washing is the servant of those whose feet are being washed. It is an act of humility, and therefore quintessentially Christian.

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Yeah, it meant that in the 1st century ... Nowerdays it's meaningless, it serves no practical function, other than symbolism, people don't wash feet, it's essencially just a show. If he wanted to do an act of humility and grace, he would do one that actually WAS one of service, even making a sandwich and service it to them would actually mean something in the modern context.

This is just showmanship.