Day One Photos and Update

From John Shaughnessy, assistant editor of our weekly newspaper, The Criterion:

Before he led this week's archdiocesan pilgrimage to Rome, Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin hoped the journey would include a visit to the Catacombs for his fellow pilgrims.

So it seems fitting that the first stop on the first full day of the pilgrimage--June 26--would be to the Catacombe San Sebastian, the site of some of the earliest images of Christ.

One of those images depicts Christ as a shepherd with a lost sheep on his shoulders--an image that Archbishop Tobin embraces as the leader of the Church in central and southern Indiana.

"Seeing those first images of Christ has always been an emotional experience," the archbishop says.
That sentiment was shared by pilgrims traveling with the archbishop, who will receive his pallium from Pope Francis on June 29.

"There's such history," said Benedictine Sister Rebecca Fitterer. "Just knowing that our faith goes back so many centuries--what a tradition to stand on."

Nancy Rasmussen, a member of St. Monica and Holy Trinity parishes in Indianapolis agreed: "I find it very inspiring to think what the early Christians did to continue their faith practices, respect the dead and hold onto their traditions with such persecution."

See a photo gallery from the first half of Day One of the pilgrimage