Pope washes feet of Muslim migrants, says ‘We are brothers’

CASTELNUOVO DI PORTO, Italy – Pope Francis has washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic refugees in a gesture of welcome and brotherhood.

Several of the migrants wept as Francis knelt before them during a Holy Thursday Mass with asylum-seekers at a refugee shelter in Castelnuovo di Porto, outside Rome. He poured holy water from a brass pitcher over their feet, wiped them clean and kissed them.

In his homily, Francis said: “We have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and we want to live in peace.”

Francis also denounced the Brussels attacks as a “gesture of war” carried out by bloodthirsty people beholden to arms traffickers.