Tagle washes feet of young people at Maundy Thursday mass

Cardinal Luis Tagle washes the feet of Carlito Sapunto during the washing of the feet at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros Manila on Maundy Thursday, April 18, 2019. A church volunteer at the St. Dominic Savio Parish in Mandaluyong, Sapunto is also an awarded player of boccia, a ball sport played by people with disabilities that affect motor skills. DANNY PATA

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on Thursday washed the feet of 12 young people during a Holy Week ritual in what Filipino Catholics recognize as the year of the youth.

Tagle led the commemoration of the Lord's Supper at the Manila Cathedral on Maundy Thursday, delivering a homily and proceeding to wash the feet of a first-time voter, a call center agent, a newlywed couple, and a church volunteer with cerebral palsy.

The Manila archbishop also washed the feet of two other college students, a youth ministry worker, a nun from Bangladesh, a missionary from India, a new business graduate, and a staff member of the Quiapo Church.

"Let Jesus wash you," Tagle advised the youth in his homily. "Don't be afraid, don't be ashamed. The world will judge you but Jesus will wash you. [He will] wash you with his blood, that's how precious you are to him."

He also said: "Be compassionate, not self-focused. Be a servant rather than wait to be served. Love others and just expect to be loved."

The washing of the feet is traditionally done on Maundy Thursday to commemorate Jesus Christ's washing of the feet of the apostles.

At an earlier mass on Thursday, Tagle urged the Catholic faithful to refrain from delivering fake news and hate speech.

In 2017, Tagle washed the feet of former drug dependents, surrenderees to the government’s anti-drug campaign, and relatives of victims of alleged extrajudicial killings. — BM, GMA News