Beatification bound Or, “Roamin’ to Rome” ORTE, Italy – Coming from Kentucky and Tennessee, Florida and Ohio, Maryland and Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania, a group of 50 pilgrims from the eastern United States gathered in Rome to join hundreds of thousands of others expected to witness the beatification of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II. Most in the group – coordinated by The Catholic Review and other Catholic newspapers from Wilmington, Del.; Arlington, Va.; Washington; and Cincinnati, Ohio; with spiritual leadership of a priest from Fancy Farms, Ky. – had never met before convening in the Rome airport, but they quickly developed a camaraderie. They quickly learned to respond in this octave of Easter to Father Richard Cash’s declaration, “He is risen,” with the response, “He is truly risen!”
Pilgrims from US participate in Mass April 28, 2011, at the Santa Croce Church in Florence, Italy, as part of a pilgrimage for the beatification of John Paul II in Rome May 1. (Catholic Review photo | Christopher Gunty)
Our Italian tour guide explained the difference between •