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PFI celebrated Holy Thursday Mass at a juvenile prison in Rome. At that Mass, during the washing of the feet (the Mandatum rite, a formal part of the Novus Ordo Holy Thursday Mass) he washed the feet of eight boys and two girls. One of the two girls was Muslim. In years past, the Vatican has clarified that ONLY men are to be included in the washing of the feet, because the Holy Thursday Mass is about the institution of the (all male) priesthood and the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, since the Holy Father failed to formally change the law prior to this Mass, objectively he committed a liturgical abuse.

This has set the trad world on fire: Pope's foot-wash a final straw for traditionalists

I attend the Novus Ordo mass daily. I attend the TLM almost every Sunday. Honestly, I attend the latter on Sundays not so much because I love the TLM, but because I hate liturgical abuses, and there are none at the TLM.

I don't know what to make of all this.

I can easily disregard the pompous sneering of the crowds at the RorateCaeli blog, but I cannot easily dismiss it when Fr. Z is voicing grave reservations.

Every good rule admits of exception. Do we ignore where these kids were, or that the girls were as much,i> there</i> and for the same reason as the boys? Or, for the sake of argument, forget that the very first person to Know the Lord in the flesh was a woman, and the first person to see the resurrected Lord was another woman, both named Mary? Feminists, who paradoxically disregard the Mother and try to exault the follower by making her a camp follower, or maybe wife of Jesus, miss the mark, because they are interested in POWER—power above all, so that service—which is what we ought to be about— falls into the shadows. The pope seems to be telling us: Hey, we ought not to be caught up in the power games. Not power over people, not power over nature. And what is disgusting about liberalism is —yes it ignores law, it ignore the right order of things—but for it, it is foolishness. We cannot be taking thought increase our height by an inch. Even by going to the moon, that is less than an inch measured against the Milky Way, whichis itself an inched measured against creation.

Dear Dr. Brian Kopp,

I understand about the ladyfolk. Are there other aspects of this story that involve Pope Francis violating other rubrics or canons? I'm not talking about traditions (conducting the Mass outside of a church, etc.).

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