Category: 2024 News

(OSV News) – The tens of thousands of Catholics planning to attend the five-day 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July will experience large-scale liturgies, dynamic speakers, and opportunities for quiet prayer and faith-sharing, with six different “impact session” tracks tailored to their peer groups or faith journey.

Leaders hope attendees become “a leaven for the church in the United States as Eucharistic missionaries going back to their parishes, but also sort of a gathering of people who are standing in the breach, or in proxy, for the entire church across the United States, inviting that new Pentecost, and that new sending (of) healing and life to the full,” said Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., in a January meeting with media.

The event is the pinnacle of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative of the U.S. bishops to inspire a deeper love for Jesus in the Eucharist that began in 2022. The revival focused its first year on dioceses, the second and current year on parishes, and the final year, beginning after the congress, on “going out in mission.”

Catholic leaders have described the National Eucharistic Congress as potentially transformational for the Catholic Church in the U.S.

“I believe this event and the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage leading up to it will have a generational impact on our country,” wrote Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, and chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., in a commentary published by OSV News in January.

The congress will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, and the adjacent Indianapolis Convention Center. The congress distinguishes itself from other Catholic conferences because it “invites the entire church to come to pray together for revival,” said Joel Stepanek, the National Eucharistic Congress’ vice president of programming and administration.

“We’re going to gather with those there to pray for the Holy Spirit to fall on us, to pray for revival in the church in the United States, to pray for healing in our own lives so we might be Eucharistic missionaries, and we’ll do that through powerful experiences of prayer and with the encouragement of a wonderful keynote speakers,” Stepanek said.

Registration is open for full-event and single-day passes at eucharisticcongress.org/register.

The congress’ theme is centered on Luke 24, which describes Jesus meeting two disciples on the road to Emmaus following his death and resurrection. The disciples did not recognize him at first but listened to him explain Scripture, only to later realize their companion was Jesus during their evening meal “in the breaking of the bread.” They raced back to Jerusalem to tell others what they had seen.

Day one, Wednesday, July 17, is themed “From the Four Corners.” The congress is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. that day with an opening ceremony in Lucas Oil Stadium. The evening’s speakers include Bishop Cozzens; Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S.; and Sister Bethany Madonna, a Sister of Life who is the local superior and mission coordinator of the sisters’ Phoenix foundation.

Day two, Thursday, July 18, is themed: “The Greatest Love Story.” The morning schedule begins with 8:30 a.m. Mass, with options to worship in English or Spanish, including an additional Mass for youth.

Mass is followed by impact sessions, where attendees can choose from six options with “dynamic preaching and music tailored to their state in life and mission,” according to the congress’ website. Following lunch are breakout sessions and “special experiences” tailored for specific groups or interests.

The evening includes a three-hour “revival session” with Father Francis “Father Rocky” Hoffman, Relevant Radio’s CEO and executive director, leading a Family Rosary Across America live from Lucas Oil Stadium. Father Michael Schmitz, host of the popular podcast “The Bible in a Year,” also will speak.

Day three, Friday, July 19, is themed “Into Gethsemane.” Friday’s schedule mirrors Thursday’s, with morning Mass and impact sessions, afternoon breakout sessions and an evening revival session with the Family Rosary Across America’s keynote speaker Sister Josephine Garrett of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Day four, Saturday, July 20, is themed “This is My Body.” Saturday’s morning and early afternoon schedule follows the order of the previous days. In the mid-afternoon, attendees will form a large Eucharistic procession in downtown Indianapolis, which Stepanek described as “a profoundly impactful experience.”

“A lot of folks who will be out on a Saturday afternoon in downtown Indianapolis will encounter the Lord and will receive the witness that we have, as a Catholic community, of prayer and joy in that city,” he said. “It’s really one of the biggest outward facing pieces of the congress itself.”

The evening includes a revival session featuring the Family Rosary Across America and speakers Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; Mother Adela Galindo, founder of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary religious order and lay Apostles of the Pierced Hearts; and Gloria Purvis, host of “The Gloria Purvis Podcast.” Musician Matt Maher will lead worship.

Day five, Sunday, July 21, is themed “To the Ends of the Earth.” The morning schedule begins with a revival session with speaker and author Chris Stefanick, founder and president of Real Life Catholic, followed by the revival’s closing liturgy celebrated by a papal delegate, with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

“This is our big commissioning as a Catholic community, where we will go forward then and take what we have been entrusted with as being part of this experience back to our homes, our communities, our schools, our parishes and our families to really be that salt and leaven in the world that is in need of the joy that we’re going to bring,” Stepanek said.

The congress’ main events will be emceed by Montse Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News; Sister Miriam James Heidland of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity; and Father Josh Johnson, a speaker, author and priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dave Moore, co-founder of Catholic Music Initiative, will provide music throughout the congress.

The morning impact sessions planned for days 2-4 are organized into six tracks: Encounter, Encuentro, Empower, Renewal, Cultivate and Awaken.

Encounter is the group of general sessions held in Lucas Oil Stadium. With a focus on deepening a person’s relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist, it will feature speakers including Katie Prejean McGrady, Sister Mary Grace Langrell, Mary Healy, Edward Sri and Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers.

Encuentro sessions are in Spanish, with speakers including Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas; Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio; Andrés Arango; Mabel Suárez; Kathia Arango; and Dora Tobar.

Empower sessions are designed to be smaller and “more intimate,” with a focus on practical tools for becoming a “Eucharistic missionary” in one’s community. Speakers include Deacon Larry and Andi Oney, Father John Burns, Chika Anyanwu, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Espaillat of New York, Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Paul Albert.

Renewal sessions are for people who work or volunteer in a parish, diocesan or other ministry role “to explore new and creative possibilities of accompaniment, evangelization, and catechesis,” according to the congress’ website. Speakers include Damon Owens, Sarah Kaczmarek, Julianne Stanz and Curtis Martin.

Cultivate sessions are focused on families to attend together, with speakers including Father Leo Patalinghug and Ennie and Cana Hickman. Awaken sessions are designed for high school youth, with large-group sessions in the mornings and smaller breakout sessions in afternoons. Speakers include Oscar Rivera, Brian Greenfield and Jackie Francois Angel. Teenagers attending the sessions must be part of a youth group or accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The congress also will include an exhibit hall and a display of a replica of the Shroud of Turin, art exhibits, opportunities for confession and adoration, and music performances.

Leading up to the congress is the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, a two-month pilgrimage beginning at four different points of the U.S. where groups of pilgrims will primarily walk to Indianapolis with the Eucharist in a monstrance. The congress’ opening event will include pilgrims from the four routes converging for a procession into the stadium.

Glemkowski said the congress shares the goal of the revival: “the idea that we need a spiritual movement of God in our church to bring about renewal in this time.”

“The bishops have prophetically inaugurated or invited the church to this time of encounter with Jesus, a deepened encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, which has everything to do with belief and relationship and what … (St.) John Henry Newman would call ‘real assent’ — a sacrificial gift of your heart to Jesus in the Eucharist which bears fruit for the life of the world.”

Large-scale Eucharistic congresses have been part of the fabric of devotion in the Catholic Church for nearly 150 years, and continue to be regularly convened by U.S. dioceses and in other countries. The 10th National Eucharistic Congress is the first Eucharistic congress in the U.S. 83 years, with the most recent national congress held in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1941.

The first U.S. national Eucharistic congress was held in 1895 in Washington, and subsequent congresses have been hosted by St. Louis, New York, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Omaha, Cleveland and New Orleans.

The U.S. also hosted two International Eucharistic Congresses in 1926 in Chicago and 1976 in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia congress drew 1.5 million people, including pivotal Catholic figures such as St. Teresa of Kolkata, Dorothy Day and a future pope, St. John Paul II. Quito, Ecuador, is hosting the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress in September.

SCRANTON – Are you celebrating a milestone wedding anniversary of either 25 or 50 years in 2024?

If so, we invite you to participate in the Diocese of Scranton’s annual Wedding Anniversary Mass that will be held this June.

Every summer, the Diocese holds its Wedding Anniversary Celebration for couples. This year’s Mass will be held on June 23, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will preside at this year’s Wedding Anniversary Mass.

Please share this information with others who might wish to attend.

For more information or to register for the Mass, please click here.

SCRANTON – The annual Saint Patrick’s Parade Day Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. this Saturday, March 9, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton. All are welcome to attend.

The liturgy is traditionally held in conjunction with the city of Scranton’s annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Following the Mass, the Saint Patrick’s Parade is expected to take to the streets of the Electric City beginning at 11:45 a.m.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will serve as principal celebrant. Various priests from the Diocese of Scranton are expected to concelebrate the Mass.

The Mass will be broadcast live on CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton and will be rebroadcast several times the following week. It will also be available for viewing on the Diocese of Scranton’s YouTube Channel.

This year marks the 62nd Anniversary of the Saint Patrick’s Parade in Scranton.

LAFLIN — The Oblates of Saint Joseph religious community, Route 315, Laflin, announces the upcoming annual nine-day Novena and feast day celebration of Saint Joseph, beginning on Sunday, March 10, in the Oblates chapel.

Novena Masses will be celebrated each day at noon and 7 p.m., with the noon liturgies broadcast live on JMJ Catholic Radio 104.5 FM.

Following all Masses, Novena devotions to Saint Joseph will be prayed, followed by the individual blessing with the relic of Saint Joseph Marello, founder of the Saint Joseph Oblates congregation.

On the Feast of Saint Joseph, Tuesday, March 19, Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will serve as principal celebrant and homilist for the 7 p.m. Mass, concelebrated by Oblate Fathers and Diocesan clergy.

Earlier feast day Masses will be offered at 8 a.m. and noon. All diocesan faithful are welcome to attend the Novena celebration.

SCRANTON – On the weekend when the war between Ukraine and Russia reached its two-year mark, more than 100 people came together in prayer at the Cathedral of Saint Peter.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, and Father Myron Myronyuk, Pastor, Saint Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church of Scranton, held a special Prayer Service for Peace on Feb. 25, 2024.

“We pray today for our brothers and sisters and all who are burdened by such unjust aggression,” Bishop Bambera said in welcoming those in attendance. “We ask God’s mercy and peace, God’s presence and an end to war.”

Sitting in a wheelchair near the front of the Cathedral, Serhii Railian knows first-hand the atrocities of war. He was severely injured while fighting in Ukraine and is now receiving rehabilitation in the Philadelphia-area.

With the help of a translator, Railian expressed gratitude for the crowd that attended the prayer service.

“He said he’s very grateful for the people of this community for remembrance and bringing this issue up because it helps the boys and girls on the frontlines, knowing all the support from America,” the soldier said.

Father Myronyuk said in addition to Railian, there was also a second injured Ukrainian soldier in attendance at the Cathedral.

“They are happy to be here, and they feel the support. Events like this show we’re not alone,” Father Myronyuk said.

On the same day as the prayer service, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters at least 31,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. It is the first time Ukraine has given a number for its military casualties, and Zelenskyy declined to say how many soldiers are wounded or missing.

“If Russia succeeds in this war, the prospects of a wider war grow exponentially and with it, the security of the entire world falls into peril,” Rev. John Seniw, a longtime pastor in Berwick whose mother was born in Ukraine, said during the homily of the prayer service.

“Let us continue to pray that God would heal the wounded, console those who mourn, sustain the soldiers and comfort all who suffer from this war,” he added.

Deborah Pusateri, a parishioner of Saint Vladimir’s Church, attended the prayer service. Her grandparents lived in Ukraine but came to the United States several decades ago.

“It was important to come out and pray,” she said. “It is just terrible that such a peaceful country is being destroyed.”

As the prayer service concluded, Bishop Bambera urged those in attendance to continue to pray for the people of Ukraine.

“While at times the world seems to forget the horrors of war and, at times, we become numb to news reports that over and over again speak of atrocities beyond belief, may our prayers never lose their intensity and may we continue to pray that God’s gift of peace would reign throughout this world and most especially this day – and someday soon – throughout Ukraine,” Bishop Bambera said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis paid a brief visit to Rome’s Gemelli Isola Hospital Feb. 28 for “diagnostic tests,” the Vatican press office said, without providing specifics.

After telling people at his general audience, “I’m still a bit sick,” and having aides read most of his prepared remarks, “Pope Francis went to the Gemelli Isola Tiberina Hospital for some diagnostic tests. Afterward, he returned to the Vatican,” the statement said.

The 87-year-old pope had canceled his appointments Feb. 24 and Feb. 26 because of what the Vatican press office described as “mild flu-symptoms,” but Pope Francis led the recitation of the Angelus prayer Feb. 25 without obvious difficulty. The Vatican provided no health update Feb. 27 since Tuesdays are his usual day off and he did not have to cancel any appointments.

Arriving for his audience Feb. 28, Pope Francis used a wheelchair instead of walking with his cane. His voice was hoarse and softer than usual.

Pope Francis also went to the Gemelli Isola Hospital in late November for a CT scan of his lungs. At the time, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office had said, “The CT scan ruled out pneumonia, but showed pulmonary inflammation that was causing some respiratory difficulties.”

The problems forced him to cancel a planned trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 1-3 for the U.N. climate change summit. On several occasions in the first weeks of December, he had aides read his speeches for him. In mid-January, saying he had “a bit of bronchitis,” he skipped several speeches although kept meeting different groups.

Pope Francis had undergone surgery in 1957 to remove part of one of his lungs after suffering a severe respiratory infection. He has insisted the operation has had no lasting impact on his health.

But last year, he was hospitalized at the main Gemelli hospital March 29-April 1 for what doctors said was a “respiratory infection.” He tested negative for COVID-19.

In 2022 the hospital on Rome’s Tiber Island, founded and run by the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, became affiliated with the Gemelli hospital where St. John Paul II and Pope Francis himself have undergone surgery.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The ability of Catholic and other faith-based groups to “meet migrants’ basic human needs” at the U.S.-Mexico border is a religious liberty issue and must be defended, U.S. bishops said in recent statements.

In a Feb. 26 statement issued in response to a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an attempt to shut down Annunciation House, a Catholic nonprofit in El Paso serving migrants, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, expressed solidarity with faith-driven ministries to migrants.

“It is hard to imagine what our country would look like without the good works that people of faith carry out in the public square,” Bishop Rhoades said. “For this, we can thank our strong tradition of religious liberty, which allows us to live out our faith in full.”

Paxton’s suit targeting El Paso’s Annunciation House comes as some Republicans have grown increasingly hostile toward nongovernmental organizations, particularly Catholic ones, that provide resources such as food and shelter to migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Bishop Rhoades said that as “the tragic situation along our border with Mexico increasingly poses challenges for American communities and vulnerable persons alike, we must especially preserve the freedom of Catholics and other people of faith to assist their communities and meet migrants’ basic human needs.”

Paxton’s office alleged Annunciation House’s efforts amount to “facilitating illegal entry to the United States” and “human smuggling.”

“The chaos at the southern border has created an environment where NGOs, funded with taxpayer money from the Biden Administration, facilitate astonishing horrors including human smuggling,” Paxton said in a statement. “While the federal government perpetuates the lawlessness destroying this country, my office works day in and day out to hold these organizations responsible for worsening illegal immigration.”

Catholic and local leaders in El Paso condemned that effort, including the city’s Bishop Mark J. Seitz, who pledged his diocese and the wider church will “vigorously defend the freedom of people of faith and goodwill to put deeply held religious convictions into practice” and “will not be intimidated in our work to serve Jesus Christ in our sisters and brothers fleeing danger and seeking to keep their families together.”

The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops said in a Feb. 23 statement that the state’s bishops “join Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso in expressing solidarity with ministry volunteers and people of faith who seek only to serve vulnerable migrants as our nation and state continue to pursue failed migration and border security policies.”

“Our border ministries are intended to be a stabilizing presence that protects both citizens and migrants,” their statement said. “The Catholic Church in Texas remains committed to praying and working for a secure border, to protect the vulnerable and for just immigration solutions to protect all human life.”

Bishop Rhoades commended the Texas bishops for “expressing solidarity with those seeking simply to fulfill the fundamental biblical call: ‘whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – “Love Means More,” a new teaching initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has a statement of purpose, a website and a promise to keep building the website to provide answers on a wide variety of questions about Catholic teaching on love, sexuality and marriage.

The premise speaks to the simple question of what “I love you” can portend.

“Imagine sincerely saying this to someone for the first time, and getting the response, ‘What do you mean?’ In that moment, the stakes would be too high to pause for a calm, honest exploration of this question. That’s why this site exists,” states the website, lovemeansmore.org.

The initiative is led by Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth. Bishop Barron also is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, author of numerous books and articles, and has a podcast and video presentations via YouTube.

“Conversations about love, marriage, sexuality, family, and the human person can be confusing and polarizing,” Bishop Barron said in a Feb. 21 news release, adding that he hoped the initiative would “help bring clarity and compassion to those questions.”

“Love Means More” renews and replaces “Marriage: Unique for a Reason,” an initiative launched by the U.S. bishops in 2011. It will “still allow us to defend marriage, but now as part of a larger set of questions about family, sexuality, and the human person,” according to an announcement on the marriageuniqueforareason.org website.

According to the USCCB, the new initiative has a broader scope than just the sacrament of matrimony, addressing “questions and concerns received from people who are uncomfortable with some church teachings. These include those who uphold the possibility of divorce and remarriage, LGBT-identifying individuals, and those who defend pornography.”

Developed through “wide consultation” with bishops, pastors, educators, medical and mental health professionals, and lay Catholic leaders involved with family life ministry, the initiative “also has heard, and seeks to address, questions and concerns received from people who are uncomfortable with some church teachings,” the news release said.

Reflecting long-held Catholic teaching, Bishop Barron observed in his statement that “cultural narratives tell us love is mostly about feeling good. True love is deeper than that, calling us to follow Christ’s example of sacrificial love so we can live in union with Him forever.”

The “Love Means More” website takes a kind of “stacking doll” approach to unpacking the church’s teaching. It starts with one question “What is Love?” which then opens into other topics and related questions: “Is love a feeling?” “Willing the Good” and “Eros + Agape.” Each new topic then leads into its own related subtopics. For example, “Eros + Agape” opens up two further topics — “biological sex” and “sexual relationships.” Those new topics in turn become the basis for opening into their own related subtopics, and so forth.

Teaching on other issues will be added over time.

The U.S. bishops’ new initiative comes as the church is grappling with how to engage people in the modern world, helping them encounter the love of Jesus Christ within the life-changing demands of his Gospel.

In December, the Vatican issued a narrow set of guidelines – “Fiducia Supplicans” (“Supplicating Trust”) on “the pastoral meaning of blessings” – addressing the possibility of informal, non-liturgical blessings for Catholics in irregular or same-sex unions.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s declaration said a request for a blessing can express and nurture “openness to the transcendence, mercy and closeness to God in a thousand concrete circumstances of life, which is no small thing in the world in which we live. It is a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered.”

 

(OSV News) – On May 18-19, groups of eight young adults will leave San Francisco; New Haven, Connecticut; San Juan, Texas; and Itasca State Park in Minnesota.

For eight weeks they’ll travel, mostly on foot, along four routes through major U.S. cities, small towns and countryside toward Indianapolis, where they’re expected to arrive July 16, the day before the opening of the National Eucharistic Congress.

Together, they’ll cover more than 6,500 miles over 27 states and 65 dioceses. With them every step of the way will be the Eucharist, held in a specially designed monstrance, or reserved in a support vehicle’s tabernacle.

The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is a major prelude to the National Eucharistic Congress, which expects to bring together tens of thousands of Catholics July 17-21 in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium for worship, speakers and Eucharist-centered events. The pilgrimage and the congress are part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative of the U.S. Catholic bishops that began in 2022 with the aim of deepening Catholics’ love for the Eucharist.

“A cross-country pilgrimage of this scale has never been attempted before,” said Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the Denver-based National Eucharistic Congress, Inc., in a Feb. 22 media release announcing updated routes and related events. “It will be a tremendously powerful action of witness and intercession as it interacts with local parish communities at stops all along the way.”

The pilgrimage’s four groups of Perpetual Pilgrims are young adults ages 19-29 selected in an application process to travel the full length of each route. Their names will be announced March 11.

People who wish to travel as a “day pilgrim” or attend a pilgrimage-related event along the routes may register online at www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org. Day pilgrims must make their own arrangements for meals, transportation and lodging, as needed.

Each route passes religious and secular landmarks, including Folsom State Prison in California, Ellis Island in New York, the campuses of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and Benedictine College in Kansas, and the shrines of Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin, the Most Blessed Sacrament in Alabama, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Maryland.

Dioceses that the routes cross through have planned special events to welcome the pilgrims. Detailed event information for these events and each of the routes — the St. Junipero Serra Route from the West, St. Juan Diego Route from the South, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Route from the East and Marian Route from the North — will be posted at www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org.

Pilgrimage events will include Masses, Eucharistic adoration and prayer, as well as service projects. All public events are free.

Supporting the Perpetual Pilgrims spiritually will be a “rotating cadre” of 30 Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Father Roger Landry of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, plans to accompany the Seton Route pilgrims for the entire route.

“Following Jesus and praying through cities and rural towns is going to be life changing for the church across America,” Glemkowski said. “I personally cannot wait to participate in this pilgrimage!”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican is seeking to draw pilgrims to the four historic papal basilicas scattered around Rome – not physically, but virtually, through a website and podcast aimed at drawing young people into the spiritual depth of Rome’s sacred spaces.

The website – basilicas.vatican.va – was launched by the Vatican Feb. 22. It features a virtual “table” at which animated saints and artists are seated with descriptions of who they are and their significance for the holy spaces highlighted on the site. An empty chair is also present to invite each “digital pilgrim” to sit at the table with them and visit the four papal basilicas.

Rome’s four papal basilicas are St. Peter’s Basilica, the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran; they are the most highly ranked churches in the Catholic Church and each possess a holy door that is opened during Holy Years, typically every 25 years.

The new Vatican website showcases a podcast produced in partnership with Vatican News, “From Tourists to Pilgrims,” in which art historians, restoration experts, professors and religious men and women discuss the spiritual significance of the history and art of each basilica.

The first episode of the podcast, less than three minutes long, explains the history behind the tomb of St. Peter upon which the basilica was built: a poor man’s grave of bricks and stone assembled next to where he was martyred. Prayers centered on each of the saints for whom each basilica is named are also published on the site.

A Vatican press release accompanying the website’s launch said the project was born out of a pilgrimage undertaken by 16 young communications professionals from 10 different countries who explored the four basilicas “not just as architectural monuments but as living witnesses of our faith.”

“The multilingual minisite is the answer to the challenge of how to convert this experience into a digital project to introduce the Basilicas to a younger audience,” it said.

Five of the pilgrims behind the project were from the United States: Alexandra Carroll, Alexandria Rich, John Grosso, John Lilly and Vanesa Zuleta Goldberg.

Ahead of the Holy Year 2025, “the hope is that this experience will encourage a revival of the storytelling surrounding the millennia-old” tradition of going on pilgrimage to the threshold of the apostles, Vatican said.