Jubilee Year pilgrimage to the Cathedral of the Madeleine

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More than a thousand people participated in the April 30 Jubilee Year pilgrimage from the Delta Center to the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

SALT LAKE CITY — On April 30, more than a thousand Catholics walked from the Delta Center to the Cathedral of the Madeleine, making the pilgrimage as part of their Jubilee Year activities. The cathedral is one of five churches in Utah designated as pilgrimage sites for the Jubilee Year of Hope, which will end Jan. 6 with the closing of the holy door of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The pilgrimage was organized by members of the Knights of Columbus Council 7961 at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, where there was “a great feeling of excitement throughout our parish leading up to this day, but it was most felt that day as we all gathered at the Delta Center to begin our procession,” said Juan C. Arriaga, the newly appointed director of ethnic growth in Utah for the Knights of Columbus and a Saint Joseph the Worker parishioner. “The feelings of happiness and joy were overwhelmingly at the forefront as we filled the Cathedral of the Madeleine to capacity.”

Participating in a pilgrimage provides “the opportunity to live our faith publicly, and to say ‘here we are’ as Catholics,” he added.

Fourth-degree members of the Knights of Columbus led the procession carrying the flags of the United States of America and the Vatican. Also at the head of the procession were the parish banner and Father Eleazar Silva-Galvan, pastor of St. Joseph the Worker; and Father Francisco Pires, pastor of St. Henry Parish in Brigham City.

“With more than 1,000 people processing eastbound on South Temple, seeing the amazement on people’s faces along the way was very inspiring by having them witness our faith,” Arriaga said.

The other four churches that are pilgrimage sites in Utah are St. Francis of Assisi in Orem, St. George in St. George, St. Joseph in Ogden and Notre Dame de Lourdes in Price.