A Return to Tradition on Holy Thursday: Pope Leo XIV to Wash the Feet of 12 Priests

The last time a Pope washed the feet of 12 priests at Holy Thursday Mass was in 2012

(Priests ordained by Pope Leo XIV. Photo credit: Vatican Media)

ROME, 1 April 2026 — Pope Leo XIV will celebrate his first Holy Thursday Mass as pope in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, washing the feet of twelve Roman priests—a marked contrast with Pope Francis, who during his pontificate performed the ritual with prisoners, migrants, and women, including Muslims and other non-Catholics.

The news came today in a press release from the Vicariate of Rome announcing the identities of the twelve priests. Eleven were ordained last year by Pope Leo XIV, while the twelfth, Don Renzo Chiesa, serves as spiritual director of the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary. The full list includes Don Andrea Alessi, Don Gabriele Di Menno Di Bucchianico, Don Renzo Chiesa, Don Francesco Melone, Don Clody Merfalen, Don Federico Pelosio, Don Marco Petrolo, Don Pietro Hieu Nguyen Huai, Don Matteo Renzi, Don Giuseppe Terranova, Don Simone Troilo, and Don Enrico Maria Trusiani.

The last time a pope washed the feet of priests at Holy Thursday Mass was on April 5, 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI performed the traditional rite with twelve priests of the Diocese of Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

Pope Leo’s choice therefore represents a decidedly more traditional approach than that of his immediate predecessor, whose Holy Thursday liturgies often took place outside Roman basilicas and involved individuals on the margins of society.

After his election in 2013, Pope Francis for the most part celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in prisons and other detention facilities. In his first year, he presided at the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention centre in Rome, and in subsequent years he celebrated Mass and performed the washing of feet at several locations around Rome and beyond, including Rebibbia Prison and the District House of Velletri. In 2024, he celebrated the Holy Thursday Mass at the women’s section of Rebibbia Prison, washing the feet of twelve female inmates.

The Holy Thursday liturgy commemorates the Last Supper and the institution of the Priesthood.

At its conclusion on April 2, Pope Leo XIV will carry the Blessed Sacrament in procession to the altar of repose in the Basilica’s Chapel of St Francis.

Here below is the press release from the Diocese of Rome.