TORONTO (CCN) — All throughout the Archdiocese of Toronto Jubilee Pilgrimage to Rome, sojourners from Canada’s largest Catholic community expressed that the week was grounding and spiritually transformative.
The farewell dinner on Nov. 16 at Ristorante Venerina granted the pilgrims the opportunity to express gratitude to the coordinating team from Connaissance Travel and Tours, the archdiocesan staff and Cardinal Francis Leo himself.
Elio Luongo delivered a thank you address on behalf of the over 100 lay congregants. He declared “this was not just an itinerary, but a formation.”
Throughout the visits to papal basilicas, Assisi, the Sistine Chapel and other spiritual landmarks, Luongo said he and his fellow travellers kept Leo’s wisdom top of mind: “make room for God and put God first.”
Leo humourously remarked that the group who departed on Nov. 10 from Toronto Pearson International Airport “learned, experienced, ate and walked a lot…and slept very little.”
More poignantly, Leo said that a deepening in fidelity to Jesus was perhaps achieved.
“I think the experience stretched our faith,” said the Montreal-born prelate. “It made us ask new questions. It provided moments of prayer, quiet and desire for deepening the relationship with who God is for us. maybe if we were back home, we wouldn’t have had that opportunity.”
The sixth and final non-travel day of the pilgrimage began very early in the morning as the journeyers determinedly strode through the cobblestone streets to secure decent seats inside St. Peter’s Basilica for the Jubilee of the Poor Eucharistic celebration presided over by Pope Leo XIV.
Fr. Tim Hanley, chair of the archdiocesan Jubilee committee, had encouraged pilgrimage participants throughout the week to mediate on the spiritual poverty in their lives that needs healing from God, and consider how they outreach to the poor.
The Pope elucidated on an increasingly pervasive form of poverty in the world today in his homily: loneliness. He offered an antidote
“We also must develop a culture of attention, precisely in order to break down the walls of loneliness,” said the Bishop of Rome. “Let us, then, be attentive to others, to each person, wherever we are, wherever we live, transmitting this attitude within our families, living it out in the workplace and in academic environments, in different communities, in the digital world, everywhere, reaching out to the marginalized and becoming witnesses of God’s tenderness.”
Following Mass among an assemblage of over 15,000, pilgrims dispersed for an afternoon of free time.
Before convening for dinner, multiple Toronto Catholics sat down with The Catholic Register to reflect on the spiritual gifts they received during the week.
Elizabeth Cherian of Brampton, who as a retiree likes to attend Mass at multiple different parishes in her area, expressed her deep admiration for Cardinal Leo celebrating five times during the pilgrimage.
“I am always so happy that the cardinal gives (me) communion with his holy hands,” exclaimed Cherian. “It makes me feel doubly blessed.”
Cherian had recently returned from a 16-day October pilgrimage through Austria, Ireland, Slovakia, Poland, Medjugorie, and other nations, in the days leading up to the departure for Rome. In the Jubilee Year of 2025, she sought healing for some personal difficulties in her life and to walk closer to God.
Receiving a plenary indulgence by passing through the Holy Doors of the four major papal basilicas – St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran and St. Paul Outside The Walls was restorative for Cherian.
“It felt like I was in heaven on Earth,” said Cherian. “I didn’t want to leave these magical places.”
Margaret Mckenna-Tomei, born in England and who now attends Church of the Holy Family in Toronto, felt the pilgrimage would “be a good thing at this time in my life to alleviate the a lot of maybe the punishment that I still have to pay for my sins.”
She offered praise for the overall experience.
“It was awesome,” said Mckenna-Tomei, who travelled with her daughter Siobhan. “It was good to meet all these people that Toronto and (see the) surroundings. I think everything worked as it was supposed to – there was no real hitches.”
Both Cherian and McKenna-Tomei wish to expand their gratitude to all the organizers of the pilgrimage.
