“Dear brothers in the Episcopate, priests and religious Civil authorities and Friends of Saint Columban Dear brothers in Christ
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Hope is the central message of the coming Holy Year, and Pope Francis invites us to have words of hope and to be pilgrims of hope. Encouraged and guided by the example of Saint Columban, who as a Peregrino pro Christo across Europe, sowed hope, we will once again place ourselves under his following to adhere to this invitation.
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We will go to where Saint Columbanus was born, where his long life-long journey began and which has left an indelible mark on the history of Europe and of us Europeans, even today. It will be the first time that Columban’s Day will be celebrated in the Republic of Ireland.
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I look forward to seeing you in Carlow, Ireland, in whose diocese stands Mount Leinster, at the foot of which, in the small town of Myshall, it is believed that this man of unwavering faith began, and where the Columban Way across Europe begins.
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This is how Pope Francis expressed it in the Bull of announcing the Holy Year 2025: “Setting out on foot is typical of those who go in search of the meaning of life. Pilgrimage on foot greatly favours the rediscovery of the value of silence, effort and essentiality. Also next year, Pilgrims of hope will not fail to walk along ancient and modern paths to intensely live the Jubilee experience.” The Columban Way presents itself as an opportunity to live the Jubilee to the full.
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I am delighted to welcome you all to Carlow Cathedral on Sunday 13 July 2025to live an intense experience of grace and communion so that the shining witness of Saint Columbanus may be for all of us a special occasion to revive the hope that is within us, and which does not disappoint, because it is founded on the love of Christ.
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My wish to you all, is that, animated by faith and supported by charity, we too can be Pilgrims of peace to dispense gestures of hope to everyone.”
ENDS
This announcement was delivered on 23 June at the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and Santa Giustina di Piacenza.Â
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