Pope Francis washes the foot of a prison inmate during the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper at Rome's Casal del Marmo prison for minors March 28. Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young people of different nationalities and faiths, including at l east two Muslims and two women, who are housed at the juvenile detention facility. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis told young inmates that, just as Jesus came to help and serve others, he, too, was at their service as a priest and bishop.

During the evening Mass at Rome's Casal del Marmo prison for minors, Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young people of different nationalities and faiths, including at least two Muslims and two women, who are housed at the juvenile detention facility.

The ceremony of washing another's feet "is important," the pope said, because it shows that "the person who is most high among us must be at the service of the others."

It also means that "we have to help one another, each one," he said during the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper March 28.

As a candle burns before a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi, in the church of the same name in Torrington, penitents line up on a Monday night during Lent to take advantage of an expanded confession schedule. (Photo by Jack Sheedy)

HARTFORD – Billboards, radio and television announcements, Web sites, social media, articles in The Catholic Transcript and reminders from the pulpit all apparently had a profound effect on an ambitious, expanded Lenten schedule of confessions for every church in the Archdiocese of Hartford during this Year of Faith.

As Archbishop Henry J. Mansell wrote in the February column in the Transcript, "Every Monday for the six weeks of Lent, confessions will be heard in every parish from 6-7 p.m., in addition to the other usual times." This translated to at least 213 extra hours per week (the number of parishes in the archdiocese) at churches where, in the words of a promotional video by the Office of Radio and Television, "The light is on for you."

Archbishop Henry J. Mansell prepares the Holy Chrism and Oils of the Sick and Oils of the Catechumens for blessing during the annual Chrism Mass on March 26 in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, as Father Jeffrrey V. Romans, assistant chancellor and master of ceremonies, assists. Archbishop Emeritus Daniel A. Cronin, at left in photo; Auxiliary Bishop Christie A. Macaluso, in back; and Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Peter A. Rosazza, not shown, were principal concelebrants.

HARTFORD – Archbishop Henry J. Mansell took the occasion of the annual Chrism Mass to rejoice at the selection of a new pope, to praise the priests of the archdiocese for exemplary service and to extol the 1,000 Catholic school children attending to "rally against bullying."

All of the oils used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, the anointing of the sick and the ordination of priests, as well as in the consecration of altars and churches were blessed by Archbishop, Mansell at the Mass, celebrated on March 26 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph.

The Domus Sanctae Marthae, the residence where cardinal electors will rest during the conclave, is pictured at the Vatican Feb. 19. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis has decided not to move into the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, but to live in a suite in the Vatican guesthouse where he has been since the beginning of the conclave that elected him, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

"He is experimenting with this type of living arrangement, which is simple," but allows him "to live in community with others," both the permanent residents -- priests and bishops who work at the Vatican -- as well as guests coming to the Vatican for meetings and conferences, Father Lombardi said March 26.

The spokesman said Pope Francis has moved out of the room he drew by lot before the conclave and into Suite 201, a room that has slightly more elegant furnishings and a larger living room where he can receive guests.

The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is seen in Washington in this file photo. The department Feb. 1 issued revised regulations related to the contraception mandate and religious concerns under the Patient Protection and A ffordable Care Act. U.S. bishops had lambasted the mandate as violating religious freedom. (CNS photo/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

WASHINGTON (CNS) – New proposed regulations governing the contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act continue to violate basic principles of religious freedom, said the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In comments filed March 20 with the Department of Health and Human Services, the USCCB raised a series of concerns, among them being that the new proposals keep in place "an unjust and unlawful mandate" regarding the provision of contraceptive and other pregnancy services and that the rules provide no exemption, or accommodation, for "most stakeholders in the health insurance process, such as individual employees and for-profit employers," who are morally opposed to such coverage.