A Jubilee Year comes around once every twenty-five years, and with it the opening of the Holy Doors. In February 2025 a group from the Diocese of Tucson travelled to Rome for it, accompanied by Bishop Gerald Kicanas and led by Deacon Al Gallardo of St. Joseph Parish in Tucson. The pilgrimage ran from 18 to 27 February.
The Jubilee is an old idea and a biblical one: a set time of rejoicing, forgiveness and release. Rome fills up for it. Pilgrims come to walk through the Holy Doors, to pray at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, and to spend time in the places where the early martyrs died for something they refused to stop saying.
Writing to invite his parish, Deacon Al put it plainly. “This pilgrimage is a gift of mercy that God is inviting us to take part in,” he wrote, and later, “God has a way of bringing His people together. By journeying together, we demonstrate our collective commitment to a life of holiness and our dedication to supporting one another in our faith.”
That is close to the whole argument for pilgrimage in a few lines. A pilgrimage is not a tour with prayers attached. It is a group of people deciding to go somewhere difficult and holy together, and coming back changed by both the place and the company.
The 2025 Jubilee has closed and its Holy Doors are sealed again until 2050. Rome, of course, has not gone anywhere. If you are thinking about a pilgrimage to Italy, whether for your parish, your diocese or a group of friends, our Italy pilgrimages page is the place to start.
Groups travel on their own dates, with daily Mass, a tour manager on the ground and an itinerary shaped around the people making the journey. Call us on (800) 653-0017 or email hello@canterburypilgrimages.com.
Drawn from Deacon Al Gallardo’s invitation to the diocese, first published in Diocese of Tucson News on 6 August 2024.
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