As war breaks out, Utah pilgrims return from Holy Land

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Father Arokia Dass David, pastor of Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price, led 33 pilgrims on a 12-day trip to the Holy Land and Rome. He is shown at the House of Caiaphas in Jerusalem.

SALT LAKE CITY — Catholics from Utah on pilgrimage to the Holy Land got more than they had planned for after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 while they were there. None were injured, and they all have since returned home. Despite some tense moments, they had an experience that was largely spiritual and filled with peace, said Father Arokia Dass David, pastor of Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price, who led the 12-day pilgrimage, which included some time in Rome.

“Right from the beginning of our trip, once we landed there, I always felt the presence of God,” said Fr. David, who organized the pilgrimage as part of his parish’s centennial celebration.

“I wanted to do something memorable,” he said. “So we invited people to join for the pilgrimage. Not just our people, but also their relatives, and every one of the 33 people who came, they were all relatives.”

The group left Utah on Oct. 2. During the first few days of the pilgrimage they visited many of the places where the Savior had walked. Frank Lujan, a parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Magna, was particularly moved by a visit to the site of the home of Caiaphas, the high priest who condemned Jesus to death.

“That was really moving to me because the tour guide said, ‘Jesus had thousands and thousands of followers and there he was all alone,’” Lujan said.

Five days into their trip, on Oct. 7, the group was at their hotel on the West Bank, preparing to travel to Jericho and the Dead Sea, when they received word of the Hamas attack, which had taken place just 50 miles away. Almost immediately most tourist sites shut down and all flights were suspended at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, so the pilgrims were faced with the challenge of finding a way to leave the country safely.

The tour group arranged for them to board a bus and just 20 minutes after they left the West Bank it was shut down and no one was allowed to leave or enter, Fr. David said. With all flights out of Tel Aviv canceled, they traveled to Jordan to find flights, a trip and border crossing that took several hours.

“Jordan was packed; thousands and thousands of people were there,” Fr. David said. “The Jordan immigration office, they were not ready for so many people, and so it took a lot of time. We had a flight scheduled from Jordan to Rome, but we couldn’t catch a flight because we were so long in immigration. The crossing of Jordan itself took almost seven hours.”

After making their way through the Jordanian immigration services, they traveled to Queen Alia International Airport. They later learned that the border between Jordan and Israel where they had crossed was shut down shortly after they had cleared the checkpoint.

At the airport, the tour company divided the pilgrims into seven groups to get them all onto flights out. The various stopovers on the way to Rome included Istanbul, Cairo, Ankara and Qatar.

Some of the group members arrived in Rome several hours later than originally scheduled and missed an audience with Pope Francis.  Fr. David was one of just 10 pilgrims who made it there on time.

Although the group was a full day behind schedule, the tour company arranged for the pilgrims to visit all the planned sites on their original itinerary, albeit on an abbreviated timetable.

Despite all the difficulties, some of the pilgrims said they are grateful for the experience.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Lujan said. “It was kind of challenging, but I had no fear. And it was a neat experience, because it just added to the journey. It just added something that gave me a realization that life is short.”

During the crisis the group was more concerned for their Israeli tour guides and bus driver than themselves, said Donna Cartwright, who attends St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Helper.

The difficulties they experienced helped them identify with early pilgrims to the Holy Land who faced dangers on their journey, she added. “For us, we did have a big struggle, you know, trying to get to Rome, get out of Israel, and the West Bank and actually make it to Rome. That was a bit scary.”

Fr. David said he saw the hand of God in the way events unfolded for the pilgrims.

“As all these things happened, it proved to us that Jesus had been with us all, that God’s presence had been with us. He was protecting us,” he said. “So that gave me tremendous confidence and faith. And I was actually not afraid that anything bad would happen. I knew maybe there would be a ripple effect from this attack, but I did not worry that anything bad would happen to our people because I knew that God was with us.”

He also believes that the prayers of family and other parishioners back home helped keep the group safe, he said. “I know so many people were worried about us and so many people prayed for us. I want to thank every one of them who prayed for us and ask them to pray once again for those people who are still stuck in Jerusalem.”