KEW GARDENS HILLS — Victor Mooney, a Catholic inspired by Pope Francis’ five-day pilgrimage to Poland, returned home June 16 after completing a nearly 700-mile cycling journey to raise awareness about antisemitism.
Mooney visited key historical sites tied to the Holocaust, including the former Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek. As he was biking around the perimeter of Auschwitz, he noticed the barbed wire and what was left of the crematoriums, and described feeling the need to stop for a moment of reflection and pay his respects to the victims.
“It was something I’ll never forget, and I was telling my mom that I’ve seen so much hate from just being in those two places that all I wanted to do was love,” Mooney said.
With permission from the museum, Mooney was able to visit the cell of St. Maximilian Kolbe (also known as the Saint of Auschwitz) — a Polish Catholic priest who volunteered to take the place of a Jewish prisoner condemned to die. He said standing inside the cell brought tears to his eyes as he reflected on the priest’s extraordinary act of sacrifice and prayed the rosary in his name.
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Beginning on June 2, Mooney biked between 80 and 100 miles a day across Poland. His pilgrimage, which began at Piłsudski Square in Warsaw, included stops at the Black Madonna of Częstochowa (a venerated icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary located at the Jasna Góra Monastery), Auschwitz to leave one of two memorial rocks with “2025, We Remember Now” inscribed on them, the Museum of the Holy Father John Paul II Family Home in Wadowice (and two others in Kraków), the Divine Mercy Sanctuary, and The Ark of the Lord Church. His journey ended at Majdanek in Lublin, where he placed a second rock in remembrance.
Mooney said he spent two days at the Jasna Góra Monastery, a two-day bike ride from Warsaw, to recover and pray — “I was weak, but my faith was on fire.”
While in the cafeteria, he received an unexpected invitation from the Papal Household for the Jubilee of Sports celebration at the Vatican — a moment that left him deeply overwhelmed.
“I just went down to my knees, in tears and with humility, and it was a poignant moment that I will never forget,” Mooney said. “And that’s what this whole trip was about, humility. Because there was no blueprint for honoring a pope. I just had to have faith to keep it moving.”
Determined to raise awareness about his journey and its message, Mooney said he had reached out to several Church leaders during his pilgrimage, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Vatican’s Secretary of Dicastery for Evangelization, and the Apostolic Nunciature to the United States. He shared details of his mission and expressed his hope to take part in the Jubilee of Sports at the Vatican. Eventually, he received a response from the Nuncio’s secretary.
On June 14, Victor Mooney came face-to-face with Pope Leo XIV, a moment he describes as the most emotional of his entire journey.
He read to the Holy Father prayer intentions from his wife and mother, then briefly explained his pilgrimage on wheels, offering two symbolic pennants, including one that had accompanied him on his bike throughout the trek.
“I told him, ‘Holy Father, bless you. My prayers are for you and your papacy,’ ” Mooney recalled. “He listened, gave me a prayer, and it was, again, another tearful moment.
“I’ve seen two popes in my life and I couldn’t even imagine that I would see another Holy Father, but God works in mysterious ways.”
Although it was a brief encounter, he said he felt as though the pope “received” him as a pilgrim. “It was just a moment of humility,” Mooney said.
Before reaching the Vatican, Mooney made two meaningful stops in Rome. He first visited the tomb of Pope Francis to offer prayers of gratitude — a moment he described as a “final farewell.”
At the tomb, he thanked Pope Francis for “showing love” to his family and remembered the pope’s parting words: “Keep fighting.”
He then brought his bicycle to the Gemelli hospital, where Pope Francis received treatment for bilateral pneumonia during his pontificate, donating it in honor of the pope’s legacy.
“The hospital cared for Pope Francis, and that was central to the reason for bringing the bicycle there, but as an inspiration to others to never give up and to not be afraid of expressing their Catholic faith,” Mooney said. “The bike was just a symbol to never give up.”
A Gemelli hospital spokesperson expressed “deep gratitude” to Mooney for donating his bicycle, which will be given to a patient in its Pediatric Oncology Department.
“This act of generosity not only demonstrates a personal commitment to solidarity, but also represents a symbol of hope and strength for those who face difficult challenges,” a Gemelli Hospital spokesperson said. “The bicycle, in the hands of a boy or a girl, will be a tangible message of courage and community.”