Williams revives ancient Easter rite
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Your support makes all the difference.The Archbishop of Canterbury became the first Anglican leader for more than 400 years to wash the feet of churchgoers in an Easter ceremony last night.
Archbishop Rowan Williams knelt and bathed the feet of 12 members of the congregation at the Maundy Thursday service at Canterbury Cathedral.
The Christian ritual of foot-washing on the Thursday of Easter week – the day before Jesus was crucified – derives from the Last Supper, when Christ is said to have bathed the feet of his 12 disciples as a sign of humility.
The Roman Catholic Church has long kept the custom but archbishops of Canterbury had abandoned it for centuries, until last night. The Church said it was hoping to make a stronger impact on its 70 million worshippers by reinstating the custom.
A Church of England spokesman said: "We're guessing, but we think it is the first time [it's been done] since the reign of Queen Mary – and she died in 1558." He said the decision marked an attempt to make the church more accessible to a greater number of people.
"It's a general trend of the church over the past 100 or 150 years to become less wordy and book-based, and to try to be more theatrical in a way," he said. "It's about involving all aspects of human nature, not just the intellect."
The recently installed Archbishop, assisted by leading clergymen, washed the feet of a dozen members of the congregation in his "physical sermon" last night.
The chosen worshippers, aged between nine and 72, sat in chairs arranged in the cathedral choir facing the rest of the congregation and removed their footwear, which included red ladies' pumps, trainers and sandals, as well as their socks.
They then placed their feet inside a ceramic bowl full of water before lifting them out to be dried with towels by the kneeling Archbishop.
Afterwards, as the cathedral choir sang, the Archbishop bowed to the 12 members of the congregation before returning to his throne near the altar.
Annalisa Flood, 13, whose father David is the cathedral organist, said before the ceremony that she had washed her feet specially beforehand, adding: "It is exciting. I am a bit nervous."
Wendy Goss, 69, a retired secretary from East Grinstead, said: "It will be quite moving because it has not been done for many years. I feel privileged to have been asked."
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