Phone: 216-696-6525

Toll Free: 1-800-869-6525

Address: 1404 East 9th Street, Cleveland, OH 44114

Why Catholic? Meet Bishop Edward C. Malesic
News

  Share this Page

Back to news list

Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey

News of the Diocese

September 12, 2022

Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey
Diocesan pilgrims return with blessings, memories after their journey

Bishop Edward Malesic and Father Dan Schlegel, secretary and vicar for clergy and religious, are journeying with about 60 faithful from the Diocese of Cleveland on a pilgrimage to Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. The trip was organized by the Catholic Community Foundation. Highlights of the 12-day pilgrimage are featured in the photo gallery above and in the story below.

It was the adventure of a lifetime for the participants – an opportunity to visit some sacred, historic sites in Europe with their bishop and to bond with fellow pilgrims.

During the pilgrimage, the group enjoyed visits to Warsaw, Czestochowa, Krakow and Wadowice in Poland; the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp near Oswiecim, Poland; the Pope St. John Paul II “Have no Fear Center;” Brno and Prague in the Czech Republic; Ettal Abbey, a Benedictine abbey founded in 1330 and the Oberammergau region of Germany where they were able to experience the famous, five-hour, outdoor Passion Play produced every 10 years since 1634.

According to the pilgrims, there were many significant and special moments during the trip.

Even Bishop Malesic was moved by the pilgrimage’s experiences. After spending some time in prayer before the cassock Pope St. John Paul II was wearing when he was shot in 1981, the bishop remarked, “A thousand years from now, people will still be making pilgrimages to pray in front of Pope St. John Paul’s cassock.”

The bishop celebrated Mass in many of the historic churches, cathedrals and shrines the group visited during the pilgrimage.

At the closing Mass in Asamkirche, a baroque church in Munich, the bishop reflected on the pilgrimage during his homily.

“What a trip this has been. A pilgrimage of faith that we made together,” he said, wondering aloud if the group’s expectations had been met. He said they walked as pilgrims.

“Oh, how we walked. Ever forward in the direction set out for us by our guides and -- we believe -- ultimately, by God. This is the movement of both our pilgrimage in Europe and the pilgrimage we will make to heaven. We go forth.”

The bishop reminded the group he told them at the beginning of their journey that a pilgrimage is not a luxury vacation. However, in many ways, they did have luxury around them. “Great luxury, in fact, especially when compared to the refugees of Ukraine or the people who came to, lived and died in Auschwitz. But our pilgrimage on earth is not always filled with luxury. We go back to our own issues because crosses come our way, too, like the morning rain in Oberammergau,” he said, reflecting on the Passion Play experience. “Still, the blessings outweigh the challenges of life,” he said, again recalling the Passion Play in which the light came forward through the darkness of death – Resurrection.

The bishop said their journey was not spent in search of luxury because that wasn’t their goal. “We came with a spiritual purpose, to reflect on the things of God. I hope that was realized in one way or another,” he added.

“I hope we drew closer to the mother of God in Czestochowa. I hope we experienced the mercy of God on St. Faustina’s convent grounds. I hope we have a better understanding of the suffering of the people of God in Auschwitz and now in Ukraine. I hope that the thinking and witness of John Paul II still inspires us to be better men and women. I hope that the child Jesus in Prague reached out to us and caused our hearts to come closer to him. And I hope the Passion of God’s Son in Oberammergau made us reflect on the painful cost God was willing to pay in order to set us free from our sins, but also the promise he gives us that we will rise up to eternal life with him,” the bishop said. “What is impossible for us is possible for God – that is, when we continually reach out to him for salvation. This is the result of faith.”

The bishop reminded the group that their faith in God causes them to do things they never thought were possible. He also said he hopes their faith was strengthened as they witnessed examples of faith – past and present – around them during their journey. “Have faith, Jesus asks us. And the response is given on the bottom of the Divine Mercy image: ‘Jesus, I trust in you,’” he added.

He said the Gospel reminds them that a disciple isn’t greater than the teacher, but must strive to be like the teacher. “As we attempt to put our faith into action – and to come back a bit more like Jesus in his mercy, devotion and submission to God’s will.”

Bishop Malesic said it’s possible God used their time during the pilgrimage to teach them some virtues, including those of patience, kindness, generosity and humility. In addition, he said they might have learned also that divine grace is still active in the world and that evil always will be overcome by good.

“I believe that God has given us the opportunity to see the fruits of his work in Poland, Prague and Germany. But we have only seen a slice of what God can do,” the bishop added, reminding the group that God’s will can be done much faster “if we get out of the way and let God be God.”

As the pilgrimage ended, he asked them to continue praying for each other and to work towards making the Church and the diocese a place where “the Gospel is lived and proclaimed, where God’s people are served and where Jesus is praised above all else as Lord of life and prince of peace,” he said.

“This pilgrimage is coming to an end, but the pilgrimage of life goes on until we see God face to face. Let’s keep each other in prayer along the way,” the bishop added.

(Photos were shared by Father Dan Schlegel, Deacon Dennis Conrad, Mary Lou Ozimek and others on the pilgrimage.)

Subscribe! Sign up to receive news & updates.

Share This

Close

Photo Gallery

1 of 22