Voices from the heart of the retaileum of the families: we are the living spirit of the Church

From Colombia, Spain, Mexico or Ecuador, hundreds of pilgrims have traveled to Rome this weekend to participate in the jubilee of families, children, grandparents and the elderly. They come with luggage loaded with illusion, moments of prayer, and the desire to pass through the Holy Gate of the Basilica of San Pedro to win plenary indulgence and grace.

The Pía Plaza, a huge pedestrian space that unites the city of Rome with the Basilica of San Pedro del Vaticano, next to the Tiber River, is the first stage of this miniperegrination in which baby carts abound. Here we meet José and Anita, a young marriage from Madrid who has traveled to Rome with his little Felipe, only 9 months, and Anita’s family.

“We want to get thank you very much for our family and support Pope Leo XIV in these first weeks of pontificate,” says José who also highlights the wonderful experience of living with thousands of people faith.

Later, there is a large group of 45 people from the Mexican cities Tlaxcala, Hidalgo and Morelia. David Guzmán and his 9 -year -old son cannot hide the emotion: “We come with great enthusiasm for being able to participate in this feast of families. We want to leave an also favorable message of the need to defend the family as a fundamental element of society.”

“We feel just married”

Adelaida and Francisco are another Mexican marriage, from Ntra. Mrs. San Juan de los Lagos, León, Guajanto (Mexico) who has taken advantage of the jubilee to renew their marriage votes in the Italian city of Assisi, after 38 years of conjugal life: “We feel like two youngsters. Because yesterday we married again. We feel freshly married.”

They are completely ecstatic by the spiritual experience of the pilgrimage and do not hesitate to share with young marriages the secret of their long way: “commitment, patience, tolerance, prudence … and forgive. We also have to know how to forgive, because we make mistakes, and that is reciprocal.”

The young María José Tamayo, arrival from Ecuador, is part of a group of more than 30 pilgrims from various provinces of the country. For her, this experience has a deep ecclesial sense: “We have come to participate specifically in the jubilee of families. It is an experience of the church as a mother who loves us all,” he says just before starting the pilgrimage to cross the holy door for the first time.

With simple words, it expresses a conviction that is also a call: “The family is everything; it is the cell of society and the living spirit of the Church.”

Another of the most numerous pilgrim groups arrives from Colombia. There are 36. The Redeemer Priest, Euklides Medina Blanco, guides this pilgrimage organized by the International Teleamiga Catholic channel, which signed an agreement with a travel agency.

“The idea is to accompany families in this important moment of their Christian life, of their life of faith,” he says.

The group has traveled several sanctuaries in Europe before arriving in Rome: Madrid, Zaragoza, Barcelona, ​​Lourdes … and now, it is the heart of Christianity.

“Many of them have already prepared spiritually in their dioceses with confession and celebrations. What has most impacted until now is the cathedral of Our Lady of the Pilar in Zaragoza: it was something spectacular for many,” said Fr. Medina.

But the essentials of the trip, added the presbyter, is to see how families retain faith in the midst of an increasingly secular world: “The meaning for me as a pastor is to see how families join around God. Although the world has been secularized, there are many families that live their faith, who live their encounter with Jesus.”

In this sense, he wants to launch a message on the most urgent challenge facing families in Colombia, where, according to denounce, he is trying to “get God out of institutions, schools, and tell young people that that is no longer worth it.”

Thus he claims the value of the elderly, others of the protagonists of this jubilee, who “are fighting so that God will continue in the human heart.” As Saint John Paul II said, “the future of humanity is forged in the family,” he remarks.

In Rome, during these days, that future beats with force amid the laughter of children and prayers murmured in multiple languages.

“We have not come from tourism”

Joshua and Paola are a young Castro-Urdiales marriage, in northern Spain, who have arrived in Rome with their children Manuela and Tomás, three years old and one year, respectively. They live faith in a community of the Neocatecumenal road in Bilbao, and, although it is not their first family trip, it is like religious pilgrimage.

“We did not have many expectations, but much enthusiasm. Our daughter was very excited. She said at home: ‘We are going to Rome by plane, we will see Pope León,” Paola explains after detailing that they followed the conclave on television after feeling with great pain the death of Pope Francis.

“We were very sorry. We were not waiting for his sudden death. But then the emotion of seeing the new Pope came,” he says.

The arrival in Rome has not been simple. They have had problems with suitcases and do not hide that with children it is very easy to fall into anger. However, something changed in their hearts when they wondered about the true purpose of the trip: “Today we pray the praise And we said: ‘We have not come from tourism. We have come to what we have come: to be with the Lord ‘. And from there everything has changed, ”says Joshua.

“And we said: ‘We are going to focus, to change the chip’. And that is what has helped us rediscover the meaning of this trip,” he concludes.