Cardinal Francis Leo is leading a diverse group of Toronto Archdiocese Catholics on a Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome. Over the course of seven days, The Catholic Register's Quinton Amundson will be with the travellers step by step, and filing regular dispatches on their spiritual journey. 

Wilfrid and Jean Guthrie, a couple who will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary in December, were told in advance of their participation in the Archdiocese of Toronto’s Jubilee Pilgrimage that they would be made different by their time in Rome.  

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The couple, blessed with three daughters and seven grandchildren, told The Catholic Register that their first two days in the Eternal City have suggested to them they could indeed be changed by this journey.

Wilfrid felt this strongly walking into Saint Peter’s Basilica, through the Holy Door, on Nov. 12.

“It was very spiritual,” said Wilfrid. “Just coming up to the basilica and then walking through the door, three or four times, it was almost like my breath was taken away. It was, and tears. Our friend Deacon Tony had said, ‘you'll come back a new person.’ I felt it at that point.”

Emotions stirred in him during the Mass celebrated by Cardinal Francis Leo, the archbishop of Toronto, at the Altar of the Chair in the Basilica.

“(I) was shaking and tears were coming down my face during Communion,” said Wilfred. “It was very much a spiritual experience.”

Jean, who said of the pilgrimage that “I suspect it’s going to change me as well,” shared that “the procession that walked in towards the Holy Door was amazing.”

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She, Wilfrid, the other 106 participants in the Archdiocese of Toronto pilgrimage, and over 50 pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Montreal participating in a parallel journey also arranged by Connaissance Travel and Tours, walked down the famed Via della Conciliazione street into St. Peter’s Square. They sang psalms, recited a litany to the saints, prayed several Hail Marys and read from scripture (Romans 5:1-5).

The Guthries, who belong to St. Anne’s Parish in Penetanguishene, Ont., but who are particularly active with St. Florence Mission Church in nearby Thunder Beach, began Nov. 12 bright and early. They, and the entire Archdiocese of Toronto pilgrimage group, sought to arrive at The Vatican hours in advance of Pope Leo XIV’s General Audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Being early paid off big time. The prime seats the large group secured gave them an up-close view of the Bishop of Rome as he rode around on his Mercedes-Benz electric popemobile. Tens of thousands of people listened as the multilingual Pope shared remarks in English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.

Pope Leo XIV stressed the need for true fraternity in his remarks to English-speaking pilgrims. He encouraged attendees to be inspired by the example of St. Francis of Assisi.

“When our daily interactions with others are genuine rather than mere polite formalities, we grow in joy and in love,” said the pontiff. “In this regard, Saint Francis of Assisi is an excellent example, for he greeted all whom he met as brother or sister.  Saint Francis knew that everyone has the same needs: to be respected, welcomed, heard and saved.  Indeed, this is the Good News and a core tenet of our Christian faith.”

On Nov. 14, all the Archdiocese of Toronto pilgrims will visit Assisi to experience the key settings of the beloved saint’s life.

Wilfrid, who said it “was something that was very, very special” to see the Pope up close, shared an insight he had when awaiting the papal audience among a sea of devoted Catholics from dozens of different countries.

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“I looked down at the cobblestones and I saw this really tiny ant and I thought how insignificant that ant was,” shared Wilfrid. “Then I realized that when I was looking around all these people there and realizing how insignificant I was there, and yet the Lord said that ant and I are both his creation. Realizing that was like, ‘wow, as insignificant as I am, He loves His creation.  That was really special. It was a moment of clarity for me.”

Nov. 13, the third full day of the pilgrimage, features visits to the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and a passage through the Holy Door of St. Mary Major Basilica, followed by Mass with Cardinal Leo as presider. The schedule ends with a walking tour to the famed Rome tourist spots, including the recently renovated Trevi Fountain.