The feet-washing ceremony is not merely a gesture of humility
Pope Francis performs the traditional washing of the feet during a visit at a center for disabled people as part of Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) April 17, 2014 in Rome. (Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP)
An initiative Pope Francis began soon after he took office in 2013 was to include women in the feet-washing ceremony during Holy Thursday. It's a decision that continues to be actively debated in Eastern rite churches in India.
Cardinal George Alencherry, the head of the Syro-Malabar Church, issued a circular recently explaining why his priests should follow the tradition of washing only the feet of 12 men or boys. It asked for women to be excluded from the ceremony.
This contrasted with what Pope Francis did in 2013 when he washed the feet of women at a juvenile detention center in Rome. The Vatican followed this up by announcing changes to the Roman Missal.
The pope was responding to a huge challenge before him. Many young people in Europe and America now proudly present themselves as members of a "post-Christian society," as if they exist beyond Christianity, or worse, Christianity is dead. They love to be part of a society that bases itself on history, reason and even the cultural practices of Christianity, but not on the Christian faith itself.
Pope Francis' attempt was to make Christianity meaningful to this "post Christian society." His intention was not to water down the faith, but make its rituals an expression of inclusive Christian humanism.
In his attempt to express this inclusivity of Christian humanism the pope wanted to wash the feet of women, and non-Christians too. He was explicitly showing to the world that the grace that flows from the cross of Christ goes beyond the walls of churches, the constraints of baptism and the restrictions of gender.
Is there an Eastern exception to this humanism? Perhaps the leaders who decided not to include women in the feet-washing ceremony do not see an emergence of a "post-Christian society" in Kerala, where the church is based, or in most of Asia.
The leaders of these churches disagree with the pope. The Asian churches don't want to depart from their tradition.
Pope Francis' initiative for the feet-washing ceremony included non-Christians too. But we don't see changes to the Roman Missal allowing the non-baptized to participate in the ceremony. The circular of Cardinal Alencherry is also silent on this.
Cardinal Alencherry rests his circular on Eastern theology, which he considers different from the Latin rite. In Eastern theology, Holy Thursday ceremonies commemorate the institution of the priesthood; feet-washing is not simply a gesture of humility. But this is same for the Latin Church too. Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary to the Congregation for Divine Worship, reiterates this when he explained the changes in the Missal last year.
Both Syro-Malabar and Latin Churches have two types of feet washing — one within the liturgy and another outside the liturgy. Pope Francis was following the second practice of washing feet outside of the Mass, and it is there he washed the feet of women and non-Christians. In Syro-Malabar churches and families, feet-washing services outside of the Mass are also practiced, so the feet of bed-ridden elders or sick can be washed in a prayerful atmosphere.
As an Eastern Catholic priest, I will abide by Cardinal Alencherry's instruction to exclude women from the ceremony, but with sorrow. The trends in the West repeat themselves in East within a short time. I felt sorry for the Synod of bishops of the Syro-Malabar church, which has a lot of sound and sane bishops who can think with foresight.
But the hierarchy didn't think of consulting priests, religious or the lay women or men regarding this topic. In between the papal act and this circular, there was a Major Archiepiscopal Assembly last August. This meeting is supposed to be a consultation of all sections of the church and only happens once every five years. No one considered this issue important enough for discussion at the meeting. Are we defending male domination in the name of Eastern theology?
There is a strange parallel. After Vatican II the Latin Church made major changes in the way they said Mass: priests began to face the congregation. This was a change of tradition for the West. Now, some Eastern Catholics are saying it only applies to the Latin Church. In Eastern congregations' people are still turning east.
Understanding the meaning of a tradition would probably help us. For example, what was the basis of turning to the East, both in Eastern and Western churches? It started when the Roman Emperor Constantine declared Christ the God of the empire. He simply made Christ the 'Sun God,' the traditional lord of the empire. Nothing else changed. The Sun remained a god and everybody turned to the east to worship. This has nothing to do with Christianity. A tradition can become a lazy habit without relevance.
When we repeat the past we must reinterpret it with meaning and relevance. The past can also bring unwanted baggage; the sins of other cultures and times. The opening proclamation in the Eastern Qurbana (Mass) reminds us that the Qurbana of Christ is fulfilled when humans live in communion, as equal members of God's household. This is the message that Pope Francis delivered to the world through his washing of the feet.
Pope Francis has prophetic foresight that comes out of his deep spiritual insight. His appeal to include women in the Holy Thursday ceremony is an example of this. Pope Francis wants to restore the transformative power of this holy ritual, with its potential to challenge the dehumanizing values of our world.
Father Paul Thelakat is a Catholic priest of the Syro-Malabar rite and former spokesperson of its Synod of bishops. He is editor of Light of Truth, a church-run biweekly from Kochi.
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