A blessing from Pope Leo XIV was one highlight of an inaugural pilgrimage challenging young Sydney Catholics to put Christ at the centre of their careers, relationships and public lives. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
During Pope Leo’s Angelus address at a small church in the town of Castel Gandolfo, on the outskirts of Rome, Dylan House, a seminarian at Sydney’s Seminary of the Good Shepherd, witnessed an extraordinary event.
He was in the front row amid hundreds of parishioners, visitors and pilgrims, and as soon as Pope Leo appeared “the whole place was just electric”, he said.
“I was the lucky last to shake the Pope’s hand, and I was completely mesmerised when he gave me a blessing.”
It was a moment experienced by many young Australians who were part of the inaugural Lion Pilgrimage organised by Sydney Bishop Anthony Percy and which ran over two weeks in July.
The pilgrimage, which takes its lion symbolism from Pope Leo and his nominal predecessors, gave young people from the Sydney Archdiocese the opportunity to consider how they could engage with their faith as they enter public or political life.
They began their journey in Milan, before travelling through Turin, Florence and Assisi, and ending their pilgrimage in Rome.
Bishop Percy declared the experience “an immeasurable success”.
“What was really amazing was seeing the range of backgrounds our pilgrims came from, and how different parts of the pilgrimage resonated with different people,” he said.
“There were people from health and education, there were a fair number who were in trades, others who are interested in politics.
“It’s incredibly important we’ve got young people who are really trying to live lives of faith and influence others for good through different life paths.”
Accompanying the pilgrims were SmartLoving and CathFamily co-founders Francine and Byron Pirola, who said they were surprised by how important a role marriage played in the lives of the saints they encountered.
“For example, St John Bosco’s early priesthood was profoundly shaped by Giulia and Carlo di Barolo, a wealthy childless couple who deployed their resources in building hospitals and homes for the poor and orphaned,” Mrs Pirola said.
“One of the things which came up in conversation repeatedly was relationships, and we were happy to lean into this because the truth is all of us, whether married, single or celibate, healthy relationships are part of thriving in life and faith.”
FULL STORY
Inaugural Lion Pilgrimage ‘an immeasurable success’ (By Alex Woolnough, The Catholic Weekly)
