DYKER HEIGHTS — The Diocese of Brooklyn will make its presence felt in the Jubilee Year, as nearly 200 people will set off on pilgrimages to Rome to share in the excitement with Catholics worldwide.
At least three groups from the diocese will travel to Italy next year, and by far, the largest contingent the diocese will send is young people. Dozens of youths have already signed up for a youth focused pilgrimage with Father James Kuroly, director of the Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the diocese, and Bishop Robert Brennan.
“We are expecting between 80 to 100 young people from our diocese and millions of other young people around the world to join with our Holy Father in the celebration of this great Jubilee,” Father Kuroly said.
While other trips are still in the planning stages, Father Robert Adamo, pastor of St. Ephrem Church in Dyker Heights, said he is leading a group of approximately 30 parishioners on a 10-day pilgrimage during Lent.
Father Adamo, who is also the dean of Brooklyn Deanery 9 (a group of churches in southwest Brooklyn), said he would welcome parishioners from other churches within his deanery to accompany them.
Elsewhere in the diocese, a group of 35 parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church in Astoria will travel to Rome in June with their pastor, Msgr. Fernando Ferrarese.
The Jubilee of the Youth pilgrims will begin their Italy journey in Assisi, where they will attend Mass at the Basilica of the Santa Maria degli Angeli, visit the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi, and visit the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized in 2025.
The itinerary includes a papal audience, a tour of sights in Rome, and what Father Kuroly expects to be one of the highlights — a “mini World Youth Day for Youth & Young Adults” in Rome from Aug. 1-3.
In 2022, Pope Francis declared 2025 a jubilee year — the theme is “Pilgrims of Hope” — and invited the world’s Catholics to embark on pilgrimages, repent for their sins, and grow spiritually.
The last ordinary jubilee, which usually occurs once every 25 years, was in 2000. The 2025 Jubilee will actually begin one week early on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, when the Holy Door at the Vatican will be opened, signaling the start of the jubilee year.
While Father Kuroly said he hopes it’s the trip of a lifetime for the young people he will be shepherding, he added he will prepare them to go in the right frame of mind — that a pilgrimage is not a vacation.
“We want them to be filled with joy. We want them to be filled with excitement. We do want them to have fun, but unlike vacation, this is an opportunity for them to be connected with the Lord,” he explained. “And just like there’ll be struggles and difficulties in life, there might be difficulties and struggles in a pilgrimage.”
The itinerary for Father Adamo’s group will include walking through the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s Basilica, visits to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, and a tour of Rome.
The pilgrims will also get the opportunity to take part in a papal audience. He said the trip to Italy will also include visits to Pompeii, Florence, and Assisi.
Father Adamo plans to gather his pilgrims together at St. Ephrem’s Church prior to the journey so they can learn more about the trip and get to know each other. He added that he is also busy making preparations for himself.
“There’ll be Mass every day,” Father Adamo said. “I’m preparing the readings for those liturgies, hymns, and so forth so that it will really be a time of spiritual renewal and a true time of prayer.”
Father Adamo highlighted the parishioners’ “excitement” for the trip but also noted the financial preparations needed. A brochure for the St. Ephrem Parish’s pilgrimage prepared by Peter’s Way Tours, a Long Island-based travel company that is making the arrangements, lists the trip as $4,495 per person, including airfare and hotels.
Peter Bahou, owner of Peter’s Way Tours, said the enthusiasm in the diocese is indicative of the excitement felt across the country.
Bahou, who has been in business for 40 years, added that this jubilee is different from other pilgrimages he arranges.
“For this jubilee, we knew we were going to have a lot of groups,” he said. “We have 50 groups booked … from all over the United States.”
