SAN DIEGO — Darcie Rico Moreno had been wrestling with God for almost three years.
The 22-year-old confessed to having “numbness in my heart” after her grandmother’s death in December 2022. Since then, she had been “really sad and angry with God,” and questioning whether he really loved her.
Longing for a closer relationship with God, Rico signed up for a Jubilee Year pilgrimage to Italy, sponsored by the diocesan Office for Youth and Young Adult Ministry. There, she said, she found healing and confidence in God’s will.
“Trust God’s plan, when you’re in your lowest moment,” advised Rico, a member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Barrio Logan. “Trust Him, and be patient. Later, you will understand why it was supposed to happen a certain way.”
Rico was just one member of a group of 33 pilgrims from 21 parishes, most of them young adults, who took part in the pilgrimage Sept. 18 to 30. It included stops in several cities, such as Turin, Milan, Pisa, Florence, Assisi and Rome.
The pilgrims were in Rome for the Jubilee of Catechists, Sept. 26 to 28, part of the Catholic Church’s worldwide observance of Jubilee Year 2025.
Held every quarter-century, a Jubilee Year is a special period dedicated to conversion and striving for greater holiness. The current one began on Dec. 24, 2024, and will conclude on Jan. 6, 2026. Its theme is “Pilgrims of Hope.”
“I would encourage all young adult Catholics to go on a pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime,” said Mike Hart, 36, a pilgrim from St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chula Vista.
“Practicing and experiencing our faith in a group setting amongst fellow Catholics is as close to Heaven as we can get while still here on Earth,” he said. “An added bonus is enjoying incredible food, sightseeing, walking through history, and growing in fellowship with fellow Catholic adults.”
Liliana Ayala is a 36-year-old member of La Parroquia del Divino Maestro y Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Tijuana and St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chula Vista. She had wanted to travel to Rome for the Jubilee Year and, providentially, came across an Instagram post announcing the pilgrimage sponsored by the Youth and Young Adult Ministry Office.
“God gave me the gift this year,” she said, “to walk together with people I had not met before; share 12 days together, where we ate, sang, cried, reflected, prayed the rosary, and grew in our faith with the help of the saints and the places we visited; to have the opportunity to ask for God’s mercy and pardon in confession in Assisi; and come together to share the feast at the celebration of the Eucharist with Pope Leo XIV.”
The pilgrimage had many highlights for Ayala. As one example, she recalled a free afternoon in Rome, when she and 10 other pilgrims undertook an expedition to the churches of St. Philip Neri and St. Ignatius of Loyola.
“We definitely got our steps in that day,” she said.
After walking for a while, they had not found their intended destinations.
“Suddenly, one of our ‘peregrinos’ opened a door on the side of the sidewalk to what seemed to be a hole in the wall,” she said. “To our surprise, we saw the Blessed Sacrament there, with nuns and a priest having a Holy Hour and a box with prayer intention requests. The 11 of us stayed a little … at the feet of Jesus and then continued on our way.”
Allan Mena, 29, of St. John of the Cross Parish in Lemon Grove, said, “Being a part of a pilgrimage not only brings peace to your heart, but restores your communion with God.”
He said that, for him, one of the most moving experiences of the pilgrimage was ascending the Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs), which are believed to be the stairs that led Jesus to Pontius Pilate. (Tradition holds that St. Helena brought the Stairs from Jerusalem to Rome.)
“It was physically hard to go up (the Stairs) on my knees, and I offered my suffering for all my intentions and those of my family and friends,” he said.
Evelyn Knuff, associate director of the Office for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, said it is “so challenging to pick highlights (of the pilgrimage) because the entire experience was so incredible.”
“Visiting and walking in the steps of so many saints was really meaningful,” said Knuff, who was joined on the pilgrimage by her office’s other associate director, Brilema Perez.
The group visited the family home of recently canonized St. Pier Giorgio Frassati and met the saint’s niece; toured the farm where St. John Bosco grew up; saw the baptistry where St. Augustine of Hippo was brought into the Church; visited the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis, who was canonized Sept. 7 alongside St. Pier Giorgio Frassati; and attended a Mass celebrated above the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi.
“Throughout our pilgrimage,” said Knuff, “it felt like these saints and more were journeying with us.”
Catherine Marshall, 29, said that she was most moved by the time that she was able to spend in prayer before relics of the Crucifixion.
“Trying to wrap my head around seeing the actual nails and thorns that Jesus touched was a challenge that eventually led me deeper into faith and reminded me just how human the relationship I have with (Jesus) is,” she said.
Marshall, who serves as director of music at St. Thérèse of Carmel Parish in Carmel Valley, also treasures the opportunities she had “to sing and play (the organ for Mass) in some incredible historic churches.”
She said, “Our group of young adults chanted the Mass parts in Latin each day, which I felt helped us connect into the Universal Church and its history.”
During their time in Rome, the pilgrims attended an audience with Pope Leo, as well as a papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. They also participated in the tradition of walking through the “Holy Doors,” which are only open during Jubilee Years, at St. Peter’s Basilica, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the Basilica of St. Mary Major and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
“Going into the pilgrimage, I didn’t know a lot about the Jubilee Year or the Holy Doors,” said Marshall, who considers crossing the thresholds of those doors to be “quite a highlight.”
“The more I learned about the Jubilee Year,” she said, “the more I felt called to embrace a perspective of hope in my life.”
Other pilgrims also reflected on how their experience had changed them.
“This pilgrimage definitely made me realize that I love my faith and Church,” said Sophia Parsh, 28, of St. Brigid Parish. “After the pilgrimage, I decided to dedicate more time to learning about my faith and committing more to Bible studies and Catholic events.
“I realized on this trip that I want a relationship with Jesus,” she said. “This pilgrimage helped re-establish that relationship.”
Knuff said, “This pilgrimage gave me a renewed perspective just how much bigger our faith is than we usually see or think about. … I returned home with so much gratitude for this faith that has outlasted all obstacles for 2,000 years and will continue to do so long after we are gone.”
