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Francis, who recently curtailed his speaking engagements because
of fatigue related to bouts of bronchitis and influenza, read a
long homily during a Holy Thursday "Mass of the Chrism" in St.
Peter's Basilica.
Francis urged priests to be compassionate, admit when they have
"strayed from the path of holiness" and avoid duplicity,
dishonesty and hypocrisy.
During the service, the 87-year-old renewed his vows along with
thousands of priests in the basilica and blessed oils that will
be used in Church sacraments.
Holy Thursday commemorates the day of Jesus' Last Supper with
his apostles the night before he died.
On Thursday afternoon Francis was due to preside at a
traditional foot-washing ritual in the women's section of a Rome
prison.
Francis is the first pope to hold the foot-washing ceremony
outside churches, usually in prisons, homes for the elderly or
hospices, continuing a practice he began when he was archbishop
of Buenos Aires.
He is also the first pope to include women and non-Christians in
the service. The ceremony echoes Jesus' gesture of humility
toward his apostles on the night before he died.
On Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate Jesus'
crucifixion, Francis is due to preside at a "Passion of the
Lord" service in St. Peter's Basilica and then attend a
traditional evening Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession
around at Rome's Colosseum.
He will preside at an Easter Vigil service on Saturday and then
on Sunday read his twice-annual "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and
world) message and blessing from the central balcony of St.
Peter's to tens of thousands of people in the square below.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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