For the first time in history, the relics of Saint Bernadette Soubirous have left the European continent and are on pilgrimage through the United States

Newsroom (April 26, 2022, 9:30 AM, Gaudium Press) Since 2017, the relics of Saint Bernadette have been traveling through the regions of France and other parts of Europe, but this time they have crossed the Atlantic to pilgrimage through the United States.

The relics left France on April 4 and were received in Miami at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, where they remained until Easter Monday, April 18.

The relics will continue their pilgrimage until August 4 and will travel through 32 churches in 26 dioceses in the United States. Among the states that will receive the relics are Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and the state of Montana.

The pilgrimage was organized by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the North American Volunteers, the Hospitalité de Miami, and the Order of Malta. But it really began with the initiative of Msgr. Kenneth Schwanger, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes.

He explained that he called parishes around the country that were dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes because he saw the opportunity to ask for the relics given the situation in the world.

Archbishop Wenski officially requested the visit of the relics to the Shrine of Lourdes three years ago. However, the pandemic delayed all the paperwork. 

“I am happy that Christians in America can discover a little more of Lourdes and that they have in them the desire to get there,” commented Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The Vatican has granted a plenary indulgence to all those who visit the relics during the pilgrimage. After the United States, the relics will leave for the United Kingdom and Lebanon later this year. (FM)

Compiled by Sarah Gangl