Plain Dealer Front Page Photo: Bishop Pilla Washing Feet of 7 year old Girl

http://www.cleveland.com ^ | April 14, 2006

[Diago]

http://www.cleveland.com/images/hp/332/pilla0414.jpg

[Diago]

[For more information on this subject, please see our FAITH FACT, The Washing of Feet on Holy Thursday.]

Choosing the Twelve
The drama of Our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection comes alive to us through the magnificent Holy Week liturgies. One unique element, not done at any other time of the year, is the washing of feet on Holy Thursday.

The foot-washing rite calls to mind the episode during the Last Supper in which Our Lord, knowing full well what was going to happen in the ensuing days, laid aside His garments, girded Himself with a towel, and washed His apostles’ feet. He taught them by example how they were to exercise leadership in His Church—through humble service.

In the same way, the Holy Thursday rite provides that after the homily the priest, in imitation of Christ, washes the feet of men chosen from the congregation. When done orderly and reverently, this can be a particularly moving ritual, inspiring us to enter more deeply into the sacred Liturgy.

Unfortunately, in too many Holy Thursday celebrations, foot washing has become a countersign, pointing to rivalry and power, not unity and service. This happens whenever the attention is taken away from the significance of Christ’s actions and instead is focused on who is (and isn’t) getting their feet washed.

It must be candidly admitted that Church authorities have opened the door to controversy through the mixed signals that have been given to the faithful and pastors alike.

The rite itself has always specified that men are to have their feet washed. The word used is viri, which refers specifically to adult males, not homines, which might have been understood, like the expression 'human beings', to include both women and men. Because of ongoing debate on this issue, the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS), in a 1988 circular letter entitled Paschales Solemnitatis, affirmed that the tradition of washing the feet of “chosen men” should be maintained.

Then in 1996, the United States bishops proposed a modification that would allow for the washing of women’s and children’s feet during the Holy Thursday service. This proposal received the necessary support of more than two-thirds of the U.S. bishops, but it still required the formal approval of the Holy See before it could take effect. Such approval has never been given. Meanwhile, the CDWDS published the latest edition of the Roman Missal in 2002, which still only provides for men to have their feet washed.

Not surprisingly, it’s impossible to please everyone given this ambiguity. In parishes where only men have their feet washed, some complain about the lack of inclusivity and the failure to implement a “directive” of the U.S. bishops. In parishes where women and children have their feet washed, some complain about the illicit practice, which seems to accommodate dissenting elements in the Church.

There are two distinct theologies at work that facilitate this tension. The more traditional theology focuses on the vocation of the priest to serve God’s people in humility. The priest acts in the role of Jesus, while the twelve men serve in the role of the apostles. The priest’s ministry is ordered to serving the laity, and this rite reminds him of his call to serve the flock entrusted to him.

The other theology is based on the truth that all the faithful participate in the threefold mission of Christ as priest, prophet, and king. This kingship is exercised through our conquering the kingdom of sin and also through our loving acts of service and mercy. In imitation of Christ, we are all called to “wash others’ feet.”

This latter theology carries the day in most U.S dioceses, where all the faithful—men and women—are allowed to participate in the foot-washing rite. But there’s more to it than that.

There has been in the Church in recent decades a relentless push toward opening roles and functions to the broadest number of people. In some contexts, this approach has fostered a greater participation in the life of the Church based on our baptismal dignity. At times, however, it has also given momentum to dissident agendas as represented by groups like Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful.

Now, having one’s feet washed in the strictest sense does not require “maleness.” This function more closely resembles service as a reader or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. It is not an instance like preaching a homily or, even more, consecrating the Eucharist, where the necessity of Holy Orders results in the function being closed to women.

To all this, I’d gently offer a two-pronged response. First, I’d respectfully urge that all Catholic dioceses and parishes follow the rubrics as they presently exist, and thereby not permit the washing of women’s feet on Holy Thursday. The point of the Vatican instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum was precisely to foster a joyful adherence to liturgical norms. Even if the washing of women’s feet might be permitted someday, we do well not to impose our own preferences or agendas on the Liturgy in the meantime.

Last year, Archbishop (now Cardinal) Sean O’Malley made a “pastoral decision” to allow for the washing of women’s feet in Boston. This much-publicized development did not, as some have implied, signal a change in the Church’s law. The general norm that only men’s feet be washed is still in effect and should be observed.

Second, while it’s theoretically possible for the Church to allow women to have their feet washed on Holy Thursday, it’s far from clear that it’s fitting to do so. Let me explain.

The rite provides a visual representation, or “icon,” of what happened at the Last Supper as recorded in the Gospel of John. One can imagine the reaction to altering a painting of the Last Supper to make a statement about social or gender equality. Even if the statement were just, the alteration of the icon is not. The Liturgy simply is not the place for this type of tinkering, even for the best of motives. The Da Vinci Code phenomenon shows how easily false representations of our Catholic heritage, even when couched as fiction, can mislead and confuse the faithful.

Holy Thursday in a singularly preeminent way celebrates the institution of the ordained priesthood and the Eucharist, which are inseparably related. It’s neither a historical accident nor sex discrimination that the apostles happened to be men. It’s also no coincidence that the apostles’ successors have only chosen men to lay down their lives for the Church, the Bride of Christ, as ordained ministers.

Given all the special considerations before us in the aftermath of last year’s Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist—the decline in Eucharistic belief, the shortage of priests in many places, the need for a renewed understanding and appreciation of the priesthood in light of recent scandals, and a generalized confusion when it comes to gender roles—it doesn’t seem like a good idea to obscure the rite’s specific, historical context.

Further, the “sign value” of choosing a representative cross-section of the parish community—including women and children—could easily be misinterpreted as indicating that the Church is now more democratic than apostolic.

Foot washing is about rites, not rights. The rite is not about whose feet get to be washed, but about the priest’s call to exercise authority in imitation of his divine Master, who came not to be served, but to serve.

Leon J. Suprenant, Jr. is the president of Catholics United for the Faith (CUF) and Emmaus Road Publishing and the publisher of Lay Witness magazine, all based in Steubenville, Ohio. His email address is leon@cuf.org.

For more information on this subject, please see our FAITH FACT, The Washing of Feet on Holy Thursday.

[Ann Archy]

THIS is RIDICULOUS!! The Washing of the Feet is serious and this little girl is Giggling!! This is absurd.

[jtal]

What's he doing hanging around anyway? I thought he was canned.

[drjimmy]

THIS is RIDICULOUS!! The Washing of the Feet is serious and this little girl is Giggling!! This is absurd.

May she BURN IN HELL!!!

[jla]

She's 7 years old. I think even Jesus would have overlooked her 'absurdity', and He might have even smiled Himself.

[vox_freedom]

How does one spell abomination?

[RMDupree]

Please tell me you're joking. You said it yourself...she's a ~little girl~.

[two134711]

This may be a silly question, but what's a 7-year-old girl doing with red-painted toenails? I have an 8 yaear old daughter who is very "girly," but she doesn't wear makeup and nailpolish. Guess I'm old-fashioned that way.

[mak5]

He's gone after the Easter weekend.

[Diago]

I believe Bishop Pilla's last day is May 1, which means he won't be able to carry out his plans for next year:

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[Ann Archy]

Jesus washed his APOSTLE"S feet....not the little children's. It was to show them to be SERVANTS of the people........the message will be LOST on that little girl.....and the Bishop should KNOW that unless someone sabotaged him to make him look less than serious.

To any Protestants here....do you all have Holy Thursday and Good Friday Services like Catholics do??

[PetroniusMaximus]

"To any Protestants here....do you all have Holy Thursday and Good Friday Services like Catholics do??"

Not many that I know of. Lutherans may. I believe most Anglicans do.

[PetroniusMaximus]

"How does one spell abomination?"

What's abominable about this?

(honest question)

[mckenzie7]

I agree with you. Suffer not the little children to come unto me.
There are few that are as honest as a 7 year old child.

[vox_freedom]

From The Washing of Feet on Maundy Thursday by Ernest Graf, O.S.B.

The bishop, or celebrant, is vested in a purple cope, assisted by a deacon and subdeacon in white dalmatics. The deacon begins by singing the Gospel of the Mass (John, xiii. 1—15), which contains an account of Our Lord's washing of the Apostles' feet. The celebrant then puts off the cope and a white towel is tied round his waist. Kneeling in turn before each of the "apostles," he washes the feet (or the right foot) with water poured out by the deacon, wipes the foot with a towel and kisses it. When he has washed the feet of all, he washes his hands, resumes the cope, and chants the beautiful prayer in which he prays that the Lord God Himself would help him worthily to imitate His own example according as He commanded, to the end that, even as by this ceremony external and purely material stains are washed away, so the sins that are within may be blotted out from the souls of all. These words sufficiently explain the twofold purpose of the rite: on the one hand, we obey Our Lord's injunction to do to one another what He first did to His Apostles, and secondly, the rite is no mere imitative gesture devoid of spiritual virtue, for no rite of the Church is ever barren; on the contrary, it is a sacramental, endowed with spiritual energy for the cleansing of the soul from such lighter sins as are symbolized by the dust that clings to the feet of a wayfarer.

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Pope John Paul II, in 1988 gave a directive on the footwashing ritual, "This tradition [the washing of the Apostles' feet] should be maintained, and its proper significance explained".
Putting a seven year old girl in the place of a man, representing an apostle, is more than a small transgression, and Bishop Pilla should know better. That said, he should know better about a lot of things, financial stewardship and ethics, homosexuals in the priesthood, etc., etc.

[dangus]

Hey, if you're ticklish, you're ticklish. I'm in my mid-30s, and if someone ever tried to was my feet, I'd fall out of my chair.

[John 6.66=Mark of the Beast?]

The nondom that I fellowship at has a Good Friday service that is mainly looking at the events leading up to that day and then the Crucifixion from a medical aspect of what it would of been like. Never been to a Holy Thursday but I have eaten fish one time on Friday or was that I stayed at a Holiday Inn last or was it I just saved a bundle on car insurance?

[phatus maximus]

Greetings in Christ...

This is late, but yes...I am a WELS member we have Maundy Thursday, Good Friday services...we had the Tenebrae (sp?) service on Friday...it was an amazing service...the focus on the supreme sacrifice of our Lord and Savior was indeed a blessing to witness and to participate in...

God's blessings to you and yours