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ogotá, Colombia — In a highly‑visible act of outreach and compassion, Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio, the Catholic Church’s highest‑ranking prelate in Colombia, observed Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday) by washing the feet of transgender sex workers in the Santa Fe “tolerance zone” of Bogotá on April 2, 2026, continuing a practice he began last year.
The foot‑washing rite, rooted in Jesus’ act of service toward his disciples on the night before his crucifixion, is among the most powerful symbols of Holy Week in Christianity — a gesture of humility, service and human dignity. Traditionally performed in parish settings, Cardinal Rueda Aparicio’s choice to bring the ritual into a red‑light district marked the occasion with striking social resonance.
A Message of Inclusion and Human Dignity
During the observance, the Cardinal highlighted the harms of social exclusion. “What societies do through discrimination is fracture,” he said in remarks reported by local media. “They create a kind of caste system that has long since been abolished and has no place in society. We are all accepted in the House of the Lord.”
Participants in the ceremony included several transgender women who work in the tolerance zone. Valentina Rojas described the experience as uplifting, saying she felt “happy and beloved,” and calling the ritual “truly something beautiful.” Another participant, Alexandra Ramírez, emphasized the importance of visibility, saying the ceremony helped transgender people “make ourselves known to society.”
A Repeat of Last Year’s Gesture of Solidarity
This is the second consecutive year Cardinal Rueda Aparicio has chosen the Santa Fe district for his Holy Thursday foot‑washing ritual. In 2025, the same ceremony honored Sara Millerey, a transgender woman murdered in the Antioquia region earlier that month — an act widely regarded as an expression of violence against transgender people. That observance was interpreted as both a spiritual rite and a public statement against hatred and marginalization.
According to reports in Latin American media, the Cardinal’s choice to pay tribute to transgender sex workers during the celebration of Holy Week was again covered by major outlets including Infobae and Noticias UNO, underscoring its social and religious significance.
Context Within the Church and Broader Society
Cardinal Rueda Aparicio, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023 and serves as Archbishop of Bogotá, is widely known for emphasizing pastoral outreach and dialogue. His Maundy Thursday gestures come against a backdrop of ongoing tensions within the global Catholic Church over issues related to LGBTQ+ inclusion and doctrine. While the Church’s official teachings continue to uphold traditional views on marriage and gender, some leaders — including Pope Francis — have stressed the importance of extending compassion and accompaniment to all people, especially the marginalized.
For many observers, Rueda Aparicio’s public foot‑washing stands as a symbolic affirmation of human dignity and pastoral care, bringing a centuries‑old liturgical practice into conversation with contemporary calls for empathy, inclusion and social justice.
