Pope Francis will on Thursday wash the feet of 12 people at a centre for asylum-seekers near Rome in a "symbolic" highlighting the need for nations to shelter refugees, the Vatican announced.
Francis will celebrate mass at the centre in Castelnuovo di Porto, located 25 kilometres north of Rome and wash the young refugees' feet to mark Jesus Christ's Last Supper with the apostles.
"He will kneel in front of the 12 asylum-seekers to wash their feet in a gesture... bringing attention to their plight," Archbishop Rino Fisichella said in an article in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.
"By washing the feet of refugees, Pope Francis implores respect for each one of them,” Fisichella said.
Many of the refugees are not Catholic, Fisichella noted.
Shortly after his election as Pope, Francis performed the foot-washing Easter ritual on a group of young inmates in a youth detention centre who included two Muslims - becoming the first Catholic leader ever to do so.
The pontiff has long called on the international community, especially Europe, to open its doors to refugees and to fight xenophobia.
Last year, he urged every European parish to take in two refugee families.
