Pope Benedict said his heart was filled with gratitude "for the 90 years the good Lord has given me. There have been trying and difficult times, but he always guided me and pulled me through."

This gesture, he continued, is meant to "sow love among us" and that the faithful, even those in prison, can imitate Christ in the same manner.

It is the third Holy Thursday that Francis has spent at a detention center, part of his longstanding emphasis on ministering to prisoners.

On April 12, Pope Francis appointed James Martin, S.J., America's editor at large, as a consulter to the Vatican's Secretariat for Communications.

“It is the ugly face of clericalism that unfortunately still has too much influence in our church,” Archbishop Gregory said.