Washing feet not folklore says pope (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, April 13 - The washing of feet on Holy Thursday to recall Jesus's washing of his disciples feet at the Last Supper is "not folklore" and reminds us how much God gives us, Pope Francis said as he was set to wash the feet of 12 inmates of Paliano jail south of Rome.
    "Once the disciples were quarrelling amongst themselves on who was the greatest, the most important, and Jesus said 'the one who wants to be the greatest must become small and a servant'," Francis told the inmates. "That's what God does with us, all of us who are poor wretches, but he is great, he is good, he loves us, let't hink of this ceremony, which is not a folkloric ceremony, it is a gesture to recall what Jesus did, after this he took the bread and he took the wine and he gave us the love of God, let's thin, think about the love of God today".
    The pope said he would become a servant just as Jesus did.
    "The pope is the figure of Jesus, and I would like to do the same as he did." said Francis.
    The inmates, at Paliano prison south of Rome, included three women, a Muslim who is set to be baptised in June, and Argentinian and an Albanian.
    The other six inmates were Italian, two of them lifers.
    Paliano hosts a number of high-security Mafia offenders, and the pope was seen as sending another message against organised crime after his recent condemnation of mobsters.
    Francis recently blasted money from the organised crime syndicates as blood stained during an audience with anti-mafia and counter-terrorism officials.
    "Money from dirty mafia businesses and crimes is blood stained and produces iniquitous power," the pope said.
    The Argentine pontiff called on God to touch "the hearts of the men and women in the different mafias so that they stop doing evil, convert and change life".
    He described the mafia as an "expression of death" that must be fought as it "opposes the gospel".
    Thursday's ritual at the high-security prison kicked off Francis's Easter duties which include the Stations of the Cross around the Colosseum on Good Friday, Easter vigil mass on Saturday in St Peter's, and the 'Urbi et Orbi' (To the City and the World) blessing on Easter Sunday.
    Security ws stepped up around those and other Easter events on Thursday.
    Bomb squads complete with sniffer dogs will be deployed to clear all the areas where Easter events will take place in Rome, city police chief Guido Marino said. All the areas will be fitted with new CCTV cameras, he said. Authorities have beefed up security in Rome and other Italian cities for Easter after recent international terror attacks. The Vatican is an especially sensitive site but monuments like the Colosseum, where Pope Francis will say the Stations of the Cross on Friday, are also considered at risk.
    The Colosseum is to close to visitors at 13:00 for security reasons ahead of the papal event, sources said Thursday. Meanwhile a meeting of the government's strategic anti-terrorism analysis committee (CASA) decided to "intensify security measures on at-risk objectives and places where tourists will gather, like ports, airports and stations." Chaired by Interior Minister Marco Minniti, it OK'd extraordinary security measures for Easter and, "in particular, the ceremonies linked to Holy Week".