All across the United States, pilgrims are preparing to travel to Seoul, South Korea, for Pope Leo XIV’s first World Youth Day as the successor of Peter Aug. 3-8, 2027.
Pilgrims
Pope Leo XIV and the bishops of Poland and Hungary mourned the loss of several pilgrims who died in a bus crash as they were returning home from Medjugorje.
Police are investigating several acts of vandalism and desecration at the famed village of Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where Marian apparitions are alleged to have occurred since 1981.
In late October, a little more than a month after Archbishop Fulton Sheen is to become “blessed,” the sixth beatification on American soil will take place — this time of five Franciscan martyrs who died in 1597 in the Georgia seedbed of American Catholicism.
The Catholic Church is the guardian of hope, whose members are called to speak clearly against all evil and in defense of human life, Pope Leo XIV said.
For the first time in eight centuries, the mortal remains of St. Francis of Assisi are being exposed for an extended period of public veneration, drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the world to pray before “the Little Poor Man of Assisi.”
An estimated 33 million visitors and pilgrims came to the Vatican to celebrate the Jubilee Year, exceeding early forecasts, officials said at a news conference at the Vatican Jan. 5.
Traveling from the Diocese of Dallas to the city of Rome, pilgrim groups from schools and parishes across north Texas made a big showing at the Vatican’s Jubilee of Youth, July 28-Aug. 3.
Walking under sunny skies with low humidity, a group of 15 pilgrims was ahead of schedule June 20 when they walked into the parking lot of the Finksburg Branch of Carroll County Public Library a little before 9:30 a.m.
Pope Francis encouraged pilgrim groups visiting Rome for the Holy Year to be witnesses of hope and trust in God’s faithfulness, especially in moments of discouragement.