A group of 40 pilgrims from St. John the Evangelist in South LA were among the nearly 1 million people who camped out at Rome’s Tor Vergata campus for an outdoor Saturday night prayer vigil and Sunday morning Mass with Pope Leo XIV this weekend.
As they slept, they were woken up at 2am by a brief rainstorm.
The group’s pilgrimage route to Rome began in southern Italy, where they spent a week praying and celebrating Mass at the shrines of saints including St. Matthew the Apostle in Salerno, St. Francis of Paola, St. Bruno, St. Nicholas in Bari, and St. Pio of Pietrelcina.
In the ancient city of Matera, the LA group and pilgrims of the Neocatechumenal Way from Dallas, Texas were given a special welcome in the city’s cathedral by Archbishop Benoni Ambarus.
In Rome and the southern city of Catanzaro, they were hosted by families who opened their homes.
Among the biggest surprises of the trip so far: Unseasonably mild weather has followed them everywhere they’ve gone!
(Photos from 📍Salerno, 📍St. Francis of Paola, 📍Matera, and 📍St. Nicholas in Bari with special thanks to Angelus News 📰💻 who has been on pilgrimage with our young LA Catholics!) More to come!
