WILLIAMSBURG — Rome, here they come!
The youth ministry at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg faced challenges raising the tens of thousands of dollars needed for their Jubilee pilgrimage to the Eternal City.
However, those struggles are now over after a generous benefactor recently donated more than $10,000, covering the remaining funds necessary for the trip. On March 7, the teens invited that donor, John Bardi, to the youth ministry meeting to thank him.
Members of the youth group spent months holding fundraisers to collect the more than $50,000 needed to fund the pilgrimage.
Much of that was raised through the group’s hard work and the financial support of parishioners and business owners. While admirable, the young people were still about $12,000 short of their goal.
In stepped Bardi, a parishioner who showed up at church with a $12,000 check and presented it to Deacon Michael Chirichella, director of the church’s youth ministry.
Bardi, who had already agreed to sponsor one of the young pilgrims and donated money toward a Radio Bingo event on Feb. 22, monitored the fundraising effort and periodically assured Deacon Chirichella that the goal would be met.
“Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. I’ve got your back,” he recalled telling Deacon Chirichella.
As a result of the donors’ generosity, six members of the youth ministry and three chaperones will go to Rome for the Jubilee from July 28 to Aug. 3 as part of a contingent of young people from the Diocese of Brooklyn led by Father James Kuroly, director of the diocese’s Youth and Young Adult Ministry. In addition to Rome, the pilgrims will travel to Assisi, where they will visit the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized by that time.
Deacon Chirichella said that having to foot the bill for the pilgrimage would have been a hardship on families, which is why the donations were so crucial.
“We don’t want to put people in a situation like that,” Deacon Chirichella explained. “But how do you go about giving these kids, these teenagers, a dream pilgrimage of a lifetime that could change their life?”
At the meeting, the young people spent time creating personalized thank you cards to Bardi and others who donated money.
“I think we’re all very grateful as a youth group, and I think it shows the amount of community we have among this church and among the parish,” said Angelique Alonso, 16, who added that she wanted to go on the pilgrimage as soon as she heard about it.
“I think it’s insane how we’ll get to meet a lot of people our age from all over the world, not just New York, and we can give different perspectives,” she said.
Ariel Mantilla, 14, said he’s looking forward to the spiritual aspects of the pilgrimage.
“I hope to see myself regain more faith because before I became part of the youth ministry, I did not go to church a lot,” he said. “In the youth ministry, it felt very connected to God, so when I go to Italy, I hope to experience more and feel more connected with him.”
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Father Kuroly predicts that Rome will be a memorable experience for the participants.
“For most of them, it’s the first time that they are doing this in a pilgrimage, where we are able to be together in prayer, not just as a diocese, but as a Church, to celebrate and to have this experience of Jubilee for our young people in the presence of our Holy Father,” he said.
Bardi said he was humbled by the gratitude shown to him.
“For me, honestly, it’s not about how much [money],” he said. “It’s about what this means to these young adults in the parish that really want to experience Rome and go on this journey of faith.”