Local priests to lead Jubilee Year pilgrimages

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UTAH — Several pilgrimages have been scheduled by different diocesan priests as part of the events for the Jubilee of Hope, the year-long celebration called by Pope Francis that began on Dec. 24, 2024 and will end on Jan. 6, 2026.

The Catholic Church celebrates a Jubilee every 25 years. This year, the theme is “Pilgrims of Hope,” taken from the opening words of Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction titled Spes non confundit (Hope does not disappoint.)

“Everyone knows what it is to hope,” the Pope wrote in the Bull. “In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future will bring.”

The first pilgrimage led by a local priest will be April 28 to May 9. Father Tristan Dillon, parochial vicar of St. George Parish in St. George, will be the spiritual director for a pilgrimage around Turin, Florence, Assisi, San Giovanni Rotondo and Rome.

Among the places that the pilgrims will visit in Rome will be the four major basilicas; they also will attend a papal audience. In Montecassino, they will visit the abbey, the first monastery of the Order of Saint Benedictine.

From Sept. 26 to Oct. 6, Father Joshua Santos, pastor of Saint Joseph Parish in Ogden, will walk with pilgrims along the Way of St. James in Spain, which also is known as the Camino de Santiago.

“I organized this pilgrimage during the Year of Hope to provide a unique opportunity for reflection and spiritual growth,” Fr. Santos said. “As participants walk 15 to 17 miles each day, they have the chance to contemplate Jesus’ message of hope, not only as it applies to our world but also to their personal lives.”

When a person combines walking with the beauty of nature, it “creates a peaceful, reflective atmosphere that helps deepen their focus on God’s message,” he said. “It’s a journey that invites both individual and collective transformation, where every step draws them closer to understanding and living out the hope that Christ offers.”

Father Arokia Dass David, administrator of Notre Dame de Lourdes and Good Shepherd parishes in central Utah, is organizing a pilgrimage Oct. 20 to Nov. 1 to Rome, Padua, Florence and the Marian shrines in Lourdes and Fatima.

This will be “a spiritual journey through some of the most sacred sites in Catholicism,” he said.

Two years ago, Fr. Dass David was with a pilgrimage group in the Holy Land when the war broke out, “and when I was coming back I decided I was not going to organize any pilgrimage for the next four to five years,” he said.

However, when he read about the Jubilee of Hope, “I had an intense feeling that kept coming and coming, even at night, I had the thought about doing a pilgrimage, so I finally talked about that to a group, and from them in a few hours everything was set, so I thought, ‘Well, I guess God really wants me to do it,’” he said.

Pilgrimages are part of the Church’s hundreds of years of tradition, he said, and they are “a very powerful experience; any pilgrimage that you do out of faith will change you.”

On Nov. 6-17, Father Christopher Gray, pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Park City, will lead pilgrims in an exploration of the basilicas, catacombs and monasteries in Rome.

Fr. Gray said that he decided to do this pilgrimage “because it’s the holy year, and people have been mentioning to me for some time how wonderful it would be to go to Rome with me,” he said.

A “pilgrimage is a spiritual practice that mirrors the path of the soul toward God,” he said. “We are always pilgrims of hope, at every stage of our life.”

People who accompany him on this pilgrimage can “hope to have a spiritual experience of visiting the holy sites in Rome and other places, especially by participating in the Jubilee events,” Fr. Gray said. “Going through the holy doors of the basilicas will be a highlight, but I pray that the whole of the journey is enriching in the hope of the joy of the Catholic Church alive today. In the Jubilee Year, pilgrims from the whole world will go to Rome in great numbers and this will be spectacular to see and participate in.”

More than a physical journey, a pilgrimage “symbolizes a profound spiritual quest for growth, transformation and a deeper connection with the divine,” Fr. Santos said. “While it often involves traveling toward a sacred destination, it also represents a movement of the heart and soul.”

 “As Pilgrims of Hope, participants will be challenged to take this hope into their families, communities and beyond,” Fr. Santos added. “They will be called to be bringers of hope, witnesses of love, joy and compassion in a world that so desperately needs it. This pilgrimage is not just a moment of personal reflection, but a calling to live out the hope we receive, sharing it with others and becoming active participants in the healing and transformation of the world around us.”

For information about the April 28- May 9 pilgrimage to Turin, Florence, Assisi, San Giovanni Rotondo and Rome with Fr. Tristan Dillon, visit https://www.206tours.com/cms/kockler/

For information about the Sept. 26-Oct. 6 Camino de Santiago pilgrimage with Fr. Joshua Santos, visit  https://www.206tours.com/cms/frsantos/

For information about the Oct. 20-Nov. 1 pilgrimage to Rome, Padua, Florence, Lourdes and Fatima with Fr. Arokia Dass David, visit https://holylandtc.wetravel.com/checkout_embed?uuid=10016804

For information about the Nov. 6-17 pilgrimage to Rome with Fr. Christopher Gray, visit  www.evolution35.com/ Tour 273