Jubilee Year Pilgrimage to Italy

Day 7: Visit to Florence, including Cathedral of Florence with its iconic dome, Giotto’s Bell Tower and Ghiberti’s “Doors of Paradise.” Return to Montecatini Terme with Mass at the Basilica Santa Maria Assunta

It has been another busy day for our Diocesan pilgrims who are in Italy as part of our Jubilee Year of Hope Pilgrimage.

This morning, our pilgrims departed for Florence, known as the “Cradle of the Renaissance.”

They took a guided tour of Florence, which included a visit to the Cathedral of Florence with its iconic dome by Brunelleschi, Giotto’s Bell Tower, and Ghiberti’s “Doors of Paradise.”

In the afternoon, they returned to Montecatini Terme, celebrating Mass at the Basilica Santa Maria Assunta, which is located in the main square of Montecatini.

Day 6: Mass at the Tomb of St. Francis, travel to Siena including visit inside St. Dominic Church and experience at the Piazza del Campo

On Friday, our Diocesan pilgrims began the day by celebrating Mass at the Tomb of Saint Francis. Many pilgrims who submitted photos also captured the magestic Assisi countryside before Mass.

The pilgrims then departed Assisi through the scenic countryside lined with vineyards and olive groves, arriving in Siena, one of Italy’s best preserved medieval towns.

The pilgrims visited Saint Dominic Church, home to the incorrupt body of Saint Catherine of Siena. The pilgrims also got to experience the Piazza del Campo, the iconic shell-shaped square where the famous Palio horse races take place each summer.

Day 5: Mass at the Altar of the Tomb of Saint Peter and trip to Assisi with visits to the Basilica of San Francesco, Church of Saint Clare, and Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli

On Thursday morning, before departing for Assisi, our Diocesan pilgrims celebrated Mass together at the Altar of the Tomb of Saint Peter. Bishop Bambera was the celebrant – and our newest Diocesan priest, Father Andrew McCarroll preached the homily.

The tomb of Saint Peter is located beneath the main altar of the Vatican Basilica.

Thank you to George and Toni Ballenstedt and Linda Price for providing some of these photos from this morning!

As the pilgrims headed to Mass, Bishop Bambera snapped large banners with photos of soon-to-be saints, Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, which have just gone up in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Leo XIV will preside over his first canonization Mass on Sunday (Sept. 7), declaring the sainthood of the two young Italians whose devotion to the Eucharist nourished a deep involvement in the cultures of their day.

Pier Giorgio Frassati was born April 6, 1901, in Turin and died there July 4, 1925, of polio at the age of 24. Carlo Acutis was born to Italian parents May 3, 1991, in London and died in Monza, Italy, Oct. 12, 2006, of leukemia at the age of 15.

Following breakfast, the pilgrims departed for Assisi, home to Saint Francis and Saint Clare, which is a peaceful hilltop town with pink-stone houses and flower-lined streets.

The group explored the Basilica of San Francesco, home to Giotto’s renowned frescoes, and the Church of Saint Clare, where they saw her incorrupt body and the Cross of San Damiano, which famously spoke to Saint Francis saying, “Build my church.”

The day ended with a visit to the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli, home to the Portiuncula, the thornless rose bush, and the prayer cave where Saint Francis often retreated.

Day 4: Papal Audience with Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square

During his weekly address, Pope Leo told the tens of thousands gathered that salvation comes from being strong enough to ask God for help.

“No one can save themselves. Life is ‘fulfilled’ not when we are strong, but when we learn how to receive,” Pope Leo XIV said.

During the audience, the pope also offered special prayers for all the students and teachers who recently returned to school or were about to start a new school year.

“Pray for them, through the intercession of the Blesseds – and soon saints – Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, for the gift of a deep faith in their journey of maturation,” the pope said just days before he was scheduled to preside over the canonizations of the two young Italians.

Day 3: Scavi Tour of the Necropolis under St. Peter’s Basilica; Visit to Basilica of Saint John Lateran; Mass at St. Mary Major Basilica

Pilgrims took part in the Vatican Scavi Tour that goes through the excavations below Saint Peter’s Basilica. It is one if the most exclusive tours in all of Rome. Only 250 people are allowed through each day – in order to preserve the historical and archaeological site.

The visit to the Necropolis beneath Saint Peter’s Basilica is where the Tomb of Saint Peter is located.

The pilgrims also toured Saint Peter’s Basilica itself and passed through the Holy Door.

After some free time for lunch and visiting the Basilica of Saint John Lateran this afternoon, our pilgrims in Rome then traveled to Saint Mary Major Basilica to celebrate Mass this evening.

Saint Mary Major Basilica houses the most important Marian icon, the Salus Populi Romani. Tradition attributes the image to Saint Luke the Evangelist, the Patron Saint of painters. Pope Francis entrusted his Apostolic Journeys to the protection of the Salus Populi Romani, which he visited before every departure and after every return.

The relic of the Holy Crib, the manger in which Baby Jesus was laid to rest, highlights the importance of Saint Mary Major as the “Bethlehem of the West.”

Among the Basilica’s most important relics are the remains of Saint Matthew and Saint Jerome.

Several popes, including Pope Francis, are buried in the Basilica.

The pilgrims also enjoyed a group dinner at a local restaurant.