The jubilee of the patients congregates this April 5 and 6 to around 20,000 people arriving in Rome and the Vatican, within the framework of the 2025 Jubilee Year.
The day began on April 5 at 8:00 am (local time), with the pilgrims crossing the Holy Gate of the Basilica of San Pedro in the Vatican.
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Vatican News collected Some testimonies of the pilgrims, including Daniel, originally from Sri Lanka based in Verona (Italy), and who arrived at the Basilica of San Pedro accompanying two people with disabilities. “We arrived in Rome during the Jubilee Year as a long way of faith,” he said, and added: “And we want to wish Pope Francis!”
Among other pilgrims were Fr. Walter Gatti, assistant of the Italian National Union for the transport of patients to international lourdes and sanctuaries (Unitalsi, for its acronym in Italian) in the Italian town of Vittorio Veneto, who stressed that “we are here to live a shared experience, a path of faith that enriches everyone, to us the volunteers of Unitarsi and the patients who accompany the patients.
Fr. Gatti said that not only patients arrive on a pilgrimage, but in many cases those who attend and accompany them. It is his own case, because he arrived with his mother, 95.
“For our patients it is a great emotion and a great experience to be here, because they are often confined in their homes or in reception centers, where they receive a good treatment, but they do not always have the opportunity to live experiences like this outdoors,” he said.
Another pilgrim, Angela, a member of the Movement of the Focolar who lives in the nursing home “Ancelle della Ss. Trinità” in the Trofarello Via in Rome, shared that “I wanted to live this jubilee and pass under the holy door. It seemed impossible because I cannot walk.”
Thanks to the “huge gesture of affection of my classmates who helped me,” Angela was able to reach the Basilica of San Pedro and experiment “in the first person how, despite all the challenges and wars, hope in the future can always be born in the heart.”
David Ramos
Graduate in Communication Sciences by the Private University of the North in Trujillo, Peru. With more than 12 years of experience in Catholic journalism working in ACI Press, I am based in Mexico since 2018. I have covered the trips of Pope Francis to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Panama.