As Pope Francis poured water over their feet, dried them with a towel and kissed their feet, 12 women inmates at Rome's Rebibbia prison wept.

Jesus never abandons anyone; he has come to save, serve and accompany everyone, Pope Francis told young inmates.

VATICAN CITY -- Unable to invite Rome's priests to mark Holy Thursday in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis thanked all priests for their service and called those who died ministering to the sick and health care workers part of the community of "saints next door."

ROME - Jesus' gesture of washing his disciples' feet, an act once reserved to servants and slaves, is one that all Christians, especially bishops, must imitate, Pope Francis told hundreds of inmates and prison employees on Holy Thursday.

VATICAN CITY - Just as Jesus always sought to be with the people to serve, teach and heal them, so, too, must priests always be in the midst of God's people, "pouring ourselves out" for them, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper with prisoners in Velletri, about 36 miles south of Rome.

ROME – Before washing the feet of 12 prisoners, Pope Francis told them and hundreds of inmates to remember that Jesus constantly stands before them with love, ready to cleanse their sins and forgive them.

VATICAN – If Jesus and his truth are to become truly present in today's world, priests must do what Jesus did and be "street preachers," going out to encounter and accompany sinners with tenderness and compassion, Pope Francis told the world's priests.

VATICAN – Pope Francis once again will celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper in a prison and will wash the feet of 12 inmates.

Pope Francis on Thursday presided over the Chrism Mass, during which the sacred oils used for the Sacraments and Ordinations were blessed.

VATICAN CITY - As the death toll from the Brussels terror attacks rose on March 24, Pope Francis began three days of solemn observances leading to Easter Sunday by denouncing those who help fuel terrorism the way some once backed Judas against Jesus.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper with young refugees in Castelnuovo di Porto, north of Rome.

VATICAN CITY - Following a request by Pope Francis, the Vatican issued a decree specifying that the Holy Thursday foot-washing ritual can include "all members of the people of God," including women -- a practice already observed by the Pope and many priests around the world.

Every year during Holy Week, when the Church’s liturgy gives us an enormous amount of Scripture — two readings of the passion, good chunks of John’s Gospel for Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday, and the history of creation and salvation at the Easter Vigil — there is usually one verse or two that strikes me anew, as if I had never heard it before, or least, never in quite that way.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis called on the world's priests to bring the healing power of God's grace to everyone in need, to stay close to the marginalized and to be "shepherds living with the smell of the sheep."