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Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young men and women, inmates at a juvenile prison in Rome, during a Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday.

The Pope presided over the live-streamed Mass for more than 80 inmates, family, staff, and guards in the chapel of the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention centre on Rome’s outskirts on 6 April.

In an off-the-cuff homily, Pope Francis reflected on the meaning of Christ’s choice to wash the feet of his disciples. He explained that Jesus performed this gesture to help his disciples better understand what would happen the next day at his crucifixion. The lesson we should take from this is to help one another.

Pope Francis told the young prison inmates that Jesus is never shocked by what we are on the inside, because he already knows our weaknesses: “He is never scared, because he has already paid. He just wants to accompany us, he wants to take us by the hand so that life is not so hard for us.”

The juvenile detention centre has approximately 50 young people ages 14-25, from different countries and with diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, and religions, according to Vatican News.