VIDEO: Cross of Gratitude Makes Stop at Brooklyn Church on Worldwide Spiritual Pilgrimage
SHEEPSHEAD BAY — Parishioners and students at St. Mark Church welcomed a massive wooden crucifix on Oct. 8 as part of a spiritual pilgrimage intended to bring a message of gratitude and faith around the world.
Known as the “Cross of Gratitude,” the 16-foot wooden cross is spending two weeks at the Brooklyn church, where it will remain through Oct. 18.
The 800-pound crucifix was crafted in Ukraine in 2003 by woodcarver Vitaliy Sobolivskyy, who said the project began after he dreamed he heard a voice telling him to carry a cross to the world’s capital cities.
Sobolivskyy spent six months carving the cross from Ukrainian oak. Since then, it has traveled to more than 45 European capital cities.
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The Cross of Gratitude has also visited hundreds of churches in the United States, according to Sobolivskyy.
“It’s like very inspirational,” said Amaya, a student who saw the cross at St. Mark Church.
Another student, Alessio, called it beautiful and said the parish had never hosted anything like it before.
Parishioner Maria Cardenas said the visit could help bring people closer to their faith.
“I think it will be a big blessing to our parish to bring people closer to God and to realize the gratefulness that we should have for him,” Cardenas said.
During Mass, St. Mark’s pastor, Father Robert Mucci, reflected on the significance of the cross for Catholics.
“We wear crosses around our necks; we hang them up,” Mucci said. “To us, it’s really become the sign of God’s great love that he would hold nothing back.”
The cross was previously blessed by three popes, according to Sobolivskyy, who hopes it can one day receive a blessing from Pope Leo XIV.
For Sobolivskyy and his family, the pilgrimage also carries a personal meaning. His four children have traveled with the cross and witnessed what they describe as the impact it has had on people.
His daughter Sofia recalled a man in Pennsylvania who had been diagnosed with early-stage cancer and later learned from his doctor that he no longer had the disease.
As the war in Ukraine continues to affect their home country, the family also uses the pilgrimage as an opportunity to pray for peace.
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But their central message remains one of gratitude.
Sobolivskyy said he wants people to remember to thank God for the blessings in their lives.
The Cross of Gratitude still has a long journey ahead. According to Sobolivskyy, about 160 capital cities across four continents remain on its itinerary.
For now, the massive crucifix is making its home at St. Mark Church in Sheepshead Bay through Oct. 18, giving Brooklyn Catholics an opportunity to encounter a symbol that has already traveled thousands of miles in its mission of faith and gratitude.