WASHINGTON, D.C. — Bishop Robert Brennan led a group of more than 3,000 of the faithful from the Diocese of Brooklyn on a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Saturday, Oct. 22 — marking the first time the diocese went on a pilgrimage to the shrine since the pandemic.

Dozens of parishes participated in the pilgrimage, according to Father Joseph Gibino, vicar for evangelization and catechesis, who said the faithful boarded 53 buses for the journey to Washington D.C.

“The pilgrimage was quite successful,” he said, adding that nearly every ethnic apostolate in the diocese was represented.

The basilica was filled to capacity for a Mass that served as the focal point of the trip, according to Msgr. Sean Ogle, vicar for clergy and consecrated life.

“There wasn’t a seat to be had,” he said. “Even the side chapels were filled.”

The basilica is the largest Roman Catholic Church in North America and has been designated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as a National Sanctuary of Prayer and Pilgrimage.

Officials from the basilica told diocesan leaders that Saturday marked the largest group of pilgrims at the shrine since the pandemic, Msgr. Ogle said.

“What a sight it was to see our diocese filling the church to the brim,” Bishop Brennan said on Facebook following the Mass. “These men, women, and young heeded the call of Jesus to ‘follow Him.’ ”

The pilgrimage took place on the Feast Day of St. Pope John Paul II, something that Bishop Brennan noted in his 19-minute homily at the Mass. Bishop Brennan reminded the faithful that during his papacy, St. Pope John Paul II repeatedly called on Catholics to strive to become closer to Jesus Christ.