Bishop Alberto Rojas and Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barnes will lead a group of diocesan pilgrims this month on a journey through Greece and Turkey to visit communities evangelized by the Apostle Paul and documented in his letters that make up a large portion of the New Testament.
The 13-day trek, “An Autumn Pilgrimage to Greece,” will include 42 people, most from the Diocese of San Bernardino. Both Bishop Rojas and Bishop Barnes have led several pilgrimages to holy sites over the years but neither has ever retraced the journey of St. Paul through the Mediterranean.
“St. Paul, his preaching, his writing, are essential to our faith as Christians,” shared Bishop Barnes in anticipation of the pilgrimage. “From his writings our faith grew in understanding who we are as beloved of God and who the Lord Jesus is for us.
“Making a pilgrimage to the places that Paul visited and preached I hope fills in another part of my roots, brings me closer to my identity as a son of God and renews the spirit of missionary in my being.”
After arriving, the pilgrims will travel by boat with most stops taking place in Greece. Many communities to which St. Paul wrote in the New Testament are on the itinerary including Thessaloniki, Philippi, Ephesus and Corinth. They will also visit the famous Church of Hagia Sophia and historical/cultural landmarks in Delphi and Athens, including the Acropolis, the Parthenon, Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Zeus.
On their ninth day, the group will dock in Kusadasi, Turkey and travel to nearby Mt. Koressos and the House of the Virgin Mary, a Catholic shrine that is believed to be the place where the Blessed Mother was taken by Saint John to live out her final years of earthly life. The bishops will celebrate Mass with the pilgrims at this sacred site.
Several clergy from the diocese will be among the pilgrims including Father Jerry Ochetti, Deacon Vicente Gonzalez and Deacon Jose Herrera.
Densy Chandra, who is coordinating the pilgrimage, said the idea to make the pilgrimage was first suggested two years ago on the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul as it was one of the three holy pilgrimages – The Holy Land and Rome being the other two – that neither Bishop Rojas nor Bishop Barnes had made.
“What more could you ask?” said Chandra, a parishioner of The Holy Name of Jesus parish in Redlands. “Two great shepherds that we have and they will be sharing their knowledge of St. Paul with us. Our Sunday readings will come to life.”