Province News, Salesian Cooperators

Salsian Cooperator Deacon Couples Make Jubilee Year Pilgrimage

By Deacon Joe Lumsdaine, Salesian Cooperator

(Bellflower, California) – A group of Salesian Cooperators from St. Dominic Savio Church completed a Jubilee Year pilgrimage in Italy this past February.  The group consisted of Cooperators, family members, and friends and was led by Pilgrimage Chaplain, Fr. Gael Sullivan, SDB.  We spent five days in Rome, a day each in Assisi, Pisa, and Milan, and two days in Turin.

Our visit to Rome coincided with the three-day celebration of the Jubilee of Deacons, from February 21 to 23, 2025. This opportunity was significant for the four deacon couples and their family members, who were part of the group.  The high point of those celebrations was the Papal Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica with Pope Francis.  Unfortunately, our beloved Holy Father was hospitalized during our visit.  Still, the Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica featured the ordination of 23 new deacons, giving the four deacons in our group a chance to privately renew their vows of service.

2025 Jubilee of Deacons, St. Peter’s Basilica

As Jubilee Year pilgrims, our group visited the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls.  Passing through the Holy Doors offers a unique spiritual experience, symbolizing passage from sin to grace.  It also offers those who complete certain other requirements the opportunity to receive a plenary indulgence.  

Celebrating Eucharist at St. John Latera – Fr. Gael Sullivan, SDB, presider, with Deacon Ricky Ariola and Deacon Joe Lumsdaine.
St Mary Major Plaza – Deacon Couple, Ricky and Lucy Ariola, and Willy and Carmen Arban
Pilgrims at St Paul’s Outside the Walls

Of course, no visit to Rome would be complete without touring the Vatican Museum, the Catacombs, the Sistine Chapel, and the colossal Coliseum complex.  After 5 very full and busy days in Rome, we were more than ready to see the countryside and visit the serene scenery of Assisi.

Coliseum, Rome, Italy

The beautiful Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is the burial place of St. Francis.  It is an influential monument that was begun in 1228, two years after the saint’s death.  Assisi is also the site of the church displaying the body of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old who will be canonized on September 7, 2025.  He is to be the “patron saint of the internet.”  We also visited the Portiuncula, also known as the Little Chapel, where St. Francis founded his religious order, the Franciscans.

Perhaps the highlight of the entire pilgrimage, especially for the many Salesian Cooperators in our group, was our 2-day visit to Turin, the “birthplace” of the Salesians of Don Bosco.  We started at Valdocco, where Don Bosco established his first Oratory, which now includes the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, a school, a museum, and much more.  Here is a group picture of us in the courtyard at Valdocco, which is often occupied by young people at play. 

Pilgrims in the Oratory of Valdocco

The next day, we were given an excellent guided tour of Colle Don Bosco, the large complex that includes the Basilica of Don Bosco, the location of his birth and nearby, the restored house where Mama Marguerite raised Don Bosco and his brothers. 

In the Don Bosco Basilica while visiting Colle Don Bosco

We ended our pilgrimage with a tour of Milan, known as the fashion capital of the world and location of the Duomo, a testament to  Renaissance art and architecture.

Next day, we all flew back home, having been enriched spiritually by our pilgrimage and having a deeper knowledge of our Salesian heritage.