Fr John Martin took 48 people and Fr Neil Peoples and Sue Brumby took 14 young adults.
Source: Diocese of Nottingham
Pilgrims of Nottingham Diocese, venturing to Rome for the canonisations of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, had a rocky start when they realised the minibus to Stanstead Airport, wouldn’t start.
It was 5am on Friday September 5, and the 14 young adults were momentarily stranded until it was quickly decided that an emergency carpool was in order, and a speedy drive down the A1.
Fortunately, everyone managed to catch their flight and arrived in Rome later that afternoon.
The pilgrims were organised into two categories: Fr John Martin took 48 people, made up of different age groups, including a Ukrainian refugee family sponsored by Derbyshire Deanery, while Fr Neil Peoples and Sue Brumby, took 14 young adults, including a seminarian, in his capacity as Diocesan Vocations Director.
“The last time I tried to attend Carlo Acutis’s Canonisation, I ended up at a papal funeral,” Fr Neil said, explaining that he and Fr John had recently taken a group of pilgrims to Rome for what would have been Carlo Acutis’s canonisation, until Pope Francis suddenly died and it was cancelled. “I was sceptical as to whether we could do it again, but Fr John was full of the Spirit and full of confidence and he said, “let’s go for it. Sue Brumby was also a total star throughout the trip!"
With the help of the Mission Enabling Team and other funds, Fr Neil was able to take 14 young adults to Rome, at a cost of only £400 per head.
Before the canonisations took place on the Sunday, pilgrims still had a day and a half for prayer and sightseeing.
After not being able to find a church in which he could celebrate Mass, the pilgrims all attended an American parish for Mass on Friday evening. “As it happened, the priest who was celebrating told us that his mother and family were from Nottingham, so we were always welcome” explained Fr Neil.
On Saturday, the pilgrims visited the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, where Fr John and Fr Neil celebrated Mass in the baptistry and walked through the Holy Door.
They then went into central Rome to visit St John Lateran Basilica and its Holy Door, and to climb the famous stairs on their knees in honour of Our Lord.
In the evening, all the pilgrims met for dinner before taking the opportunity to see St Peter’s Square illuminated at night.
The following morning, many of them rose at 5am to secure a good spot for the canonisations in St Peter’s Square.
“There were about 80,000 people present,” Fr Neil explains. “There were four priests from our diocese concelebrating and the experience was even more moving than I expected. I was very touched to see Carlo’s mother on the big screen. Pope Leo came out at the beginning to welcome everyone and after the Mass he did a circuit on his Popemobile and some of our young people were very excited as they were able to get very close to him.”
Later that day the pilgrims returned to the square to visit St Peter’s Basilica and to walk through the Holy Doors. “We were able to queue jump, because Daniel Lung- who famously threw a knitted pope to Pope Leo- was among our group and the stewards recognised him” Fr Neil said.
The final day in Rome began with Mass at St Mary Major’s Basilica and the opportunity to visit the tomb of Pope Francis. “Throughout the trip, I deliberately didn’t add extra prayer time because I didn’t want to overload the young people,” Fr Neil explained, “so it was nice to see small groups of them, choose to go off and pray the Rosary together. They just did it naturally and there was a fantastic atmosphere.”
Following lunch, it was time to collect their bags and set off for the airport.
“Only 24 hours into the trip, people were asking me when the next pilgrimage is,” said Fr Neil. “It will most likely be World Youth Day in Seoul, Korea. I’m just glad that for this trip, no one got a speeding ticket on the way to the airport!”
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