MACERATA – Everything is ready for the 46th edition of the Macerata – Loreto walking pilgrimage, promoted since 1978 by Comunione e Liberazione, which will be held on the night between Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th June, starting from the Macerata Exhibition Center (where it was welcomed in 1993 John Paul II), with the Holy Mass at 8.30 pm, celebrated by Monsignor Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization and delegate of the Pope for the Jubilee of 2025.
The president of the Committee Ermanno Calzolaio illustrated the reasons for this Pilgrimage, which renews a tradition born from the intuition of Monsignor Giancarlo Vecerrica, who in 1978 proposed it to his students: 300 of them set off. Since then we set out, bringing everyone your own need. “We arrive disheartened and leave full of hope” said the numerous pilgrims who participated last year from the flooded areas. And so many other testimonies. “How is this possible?”: Our Lady’s question when faced with the Angel’s announcement becomes the theme of this edition, to underline that “something happens in the Pilgrimage that, I for one, want to discover for myself: what makes it possible to face every circumstance with trust, with hope?”. The reason for so much desire for participation, individually, in small or numerous groups not only from Italy (125 buses accredited so far) lies precisely in focusing on man’s needs, in a situation in which the ego is rarely of interest , the person.
The testimonies that will be offered to the pilgrims will document precisely this, even from the most dramatic situations: from Moscow, from Haifa, through the testimony of Luca, from Frontiere di Pace, who has been taking care of the needs of the population in Ukraine since the beginning of the emergency .
Request for help, to rediscover hope for oneself and for one’s loved ones, but also the desire to give thanks for a good received, as happens for Mons. Nazzareno Marconi who will complete the journey in his ten years of appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Macerata.
With the same feeling of gratitude, Col. Ferdinando Falco, Provincial Commander of the Guardia di Finanza, on the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the oldest military corps, announced that also a large delegation of soldiers from the Guardia di Finanza, among the pilgrims and torchbearers (which accompany the torch blessed last Wednesday by Pope Francis), will participate in the “joyful event” of the Pilgrimage.
Bishop Marconi, in recalling the new role of Mons. Rino Fisichella as delegate for the 2025 Jubilee, underlined the choice of the theme “Pilgrims in hope”. A harmony that presents on the one hand the experience of welcome, companionship, rediscovery of faith accomplished by the pilgrimage journey of all these years (“pilgrimage is for everyone, first of all for those who feel like sinners; for all those who are in the dark , in the night there is a light, experienced with the arrival in the morning of the Madonna”) and on the other the valorization of the experience of pilgrimage in the life of the Christian people which will take place precisely during the Jubilee.
Monsignor Vecerrica, stated that the Pilgrimage belongs to the Pope and the Bishops, recalling the valorization starting from John Paul II (with the instruction: “From now on you must follow these young people to me one by one”) up to Pope Francis who has always shown his closeness with a phone call of good wishes and blessing to the pilgrims, since the 2013 edition, the year of his election. The wait also applies to next Saturday. Meanwhile, a written message with the blessing arrived from the card. Parolin on behalf of the Pope.
He takes no credit, Monsignor Vecerrica: “it is the Madonna who attracts!” he responded to the Pope who greeted him at the General Audience last Wednesday, blessing the Torch of Peace.
Everything is therefore ready for the journey on Saturday night, as assured by the historic logistics manager Massimo Orselli, underlining the good collaboration with Bodies and Authorities (the Prefectures and Police Headquarters of the two provinces of Macerata and Ancona), in particular with the Municipality of Macerata , with which it was possible to identify and organize the venue for this year’s departure.
Francesca D’Alessandro, vice mayor of Macerata, spoke and pointed out that it was a necessary commitment, due to the pride that the Pilgrimage represents for the whole city, both for the international scope of the event and for the reasons that move it, sinking into the social, cultural and religious tradition of our people and of Europe itself.
The Pilgrimage Committee’s thanks go to the over 1000 volunteers, including professionals who offer their specific expertise and who dedicate effort and time to the various necessary services: welcoming pilgrims, the secretariat, the press office, the liturgy, the amplification along the way, live streaming, services for preparing safety, medical services both at the Exhibition Center and during the walk.
Reaching the Exhibition Center is quite simple, also taking into account the possibility of a free shuttle service that will leave from Macerata as early as 3.30pm, returning at the end of the celebration of Holy Mass.
Those who cannot walk will have the opportunity to follow the pilgrimage, starting from the celebration at the Exhibition Center and throughout the night, through the live broadcast on the Pilgrimage YouTube channel and on the website www.pellegrinaggio.org; it will also be possible to follow the testimonies and the Holy Mass on EmmeTv (channel 89) and on Radio Nuova inBlu.
