Holy Year pilgrims from Cleveland experience 'best of the church'

ROME (CNS) -- The Holy Doors of the basilicas of Rome, the beautiful churches, the countryside around Assisi, the gelato and the pasta and the daily Masses were just some of the pilgrimage highlights mentioned by Holy Year pilgrims from the Diocese of Cleveland.

"It's one thing to see photos online of the Sistine Chapel and another to stand in awe under it with other pilgrims," said Father Dan Schlegel, pastor of the diocese's St. Raphael Parish in Bay Village.

Bishop Edward C. Malesic of Cleveland and 90 pilgrims, including two priests and three permanent deacons, made their Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi Jan. 13-23. Their last full day in Rome included Pope Francis' general audience and going through the Holy Door and celebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

Earlier in the trip, they had Mass with Bishop Malesic near the tomb of St. Peter at the Vatican and next to the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi.

Those Masses were "very special," said Jim Ruddock, a member of St. Noel Church in Willoughby Hills. "It's like getting to sit next to the field at a football game" rather than high up in the bleachers.

His wife, Maria Ruddock, said it was even more special "getting to celebrate Mass in these places with our own bishop."

At Mass Jan. 22 under the Marian icon "Salus Populi Romani" ("health of the Roman people") in St. Mary Major, Bishop Malesic told the pilgrims, "Don't be shy" to return home and share their pilgrimage experience with their families, parishes and communities.

The bishop told Catholic News Service that while he has been to Rome many times, the trip gave him a chance to experience the holy sites through the eyes of many people who had never been to Italy before and to draw hope from the faith of "people who want to do a spiritual pilgrimage and to encounter Jesus."

"I experienced the best of the church with the joy at our meals, the intensity of our prayer at Mass, the awe when walking through the Holy Doors and the contrition of our hearts in the sacrament of reconciliation," he told the pilgrims in his homily at their final Mass.

Pope Francis opened the Holy Year 2025 on Christmas Eve with the theme, "Pilgrims of Hope."

Mary Lou Ozimek, assistant executive director of the diocese's Catholic Community Foundation, which organized the pilgrimage, said one sign of hope for her was seeing pilgrimage members keep prayer journals and bring to the altar each day their "intention books," which were filled with their prayer requests and those of their family and friends.

The 90 pilgrims came from each of the eight counties in the diocese, she said, and the prayer intentions represented the hopes and needs of the whole diocese.

The pilgrims crossed the thresholds of the Holy Doors at the basilicas of St. Peter, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. John Lateran before reaching St. Mary Major. But they also visited the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs, which tradition holds are the stairs Jesus ascended when Pontius Pilate brought him before the crowd and handed him over to be crucified.

Jodi Theis from St. Martin of Tours Parish in Valley City said the highlight of the pilgrimage was climbing the stairs on her knees, which was much more difficult than she had expected.

"I was immediately overcome with emotion," she said. "It was painful, but I'm so glad I did it. I was filled with joy at the top and overwhelmed by the love of Jesus, who suffered so much for us."