Grand pilgrimage to Rome
News
Among the millions of pilgrims visiting Rome for the Jubilee Year were nine knights and dames from the Adelaide branch of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
The group and four partners joined more than 3600 members of the Order from every continent on the jubilee pilgrimage held from October 21 to 23.
The pilgrims visited the four major basilicas and on the third day attended the papal audience with Pope Leo XIV followed by Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.
The Grand Master presented the Pope with an icon of Our Lady of Palestine, specially crafted for him in the Holy Land.
“You have come to Rome from various parts of the world, and this reminds us that the practice of pilgrimage is at the origin of your history,” Pope Leo XIV told the pilgrims.
“You were born, in fact, to guard the Holy Sepulchre, to take care of pilgrims and to support the
Church of Jerusalem.”
The Adelaide contingent took a holding cross made by the Plympton parish men’s shed to Rome and gifted it to a retired knight and dame from Anchorage in Alaska.
The order’s main aim is to strengthen among its members the practice of Christian life and to sustain and aid the charitable, cultural and social works and institutions of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.
