World Meeting of Families-Philadelphia
September 21-25 2015
Significant churches and shrines open to pilgrimage tour groups
Basilica of the Sacred Heart – South Bend Indiana
Located at the heart of the University of Notre Dame campus in South Bend, 90 miles East of Chicago,
the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is the church of the campus community and is also mother church of
the Congregation of Holy Cross in the United States, a worldwide order of religious brothers and priests
dedicated to education. The church, built in the neo gothic style, has 44 major stained glass windows
and murals completed over a period of 17 years by Luigi Gregori, who is well known for his painting at
St. Peters, Rome. On January 17, 1992 St. Pope John Paul II elevated the status of the church to a
Basilica. The Congregation of Holy Cross, founders of the University of Notre Dame, are active in
Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Grance, Ghana, Haiti, India, Italy, Kenyr, Mexico, Peru, Philippines,
Tanzania, and Uganda, as well as the USA. Group activities include guided tours and Mass attendance.
St. Anthony’s Chapel – Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Claiming to have the largest collection of Catholic relics in the world,(more than 5,000) a stop here will
be like visiting a 12th century church in central Europe! Here you will see bodily remains, personal
possessions and sacramental objects of Jesus, Mary and hundreds of apostles, martyrs, saints, hermits
and virgins; many stunningly displayed in golden reliquaries, which are precious objects in themselves.
Fr. Suitbert Godfrey Mollinger, born in Belgium, was pastor of the little-known Most Holy Name Parish
in North Pittsburgh in the mid 19th century. Independently wealthy, he used his own money to buy, and
ship many priceless religious relics from war-torn European nations to America. He spent his sizeable
inheritance to build a chapel to house these treasures in 1883. Later, due to his obsessive buying of
relics, he doubled the size of the church! He died just two days after it opened to the public. If your
group stops here be prepared to see skulls of saints, the complete skeleton of St. Demetrius, bone chips
from each of the 12 Apostles, slivers of wood from the Last Supper table, 22 splinters from the true
cross of Jesus, a remnant of Mary’s veil, and thorn from the crown of thorns. There is no other church
in North America to equal this! Group activities include guided tours. Please note – The Vatican has the
largest private (not open for public viewing) collection of Catholic relics in the world!
National Shrine of St. John Neumann – Philadelphia Pennsylvania
St. John Nepomucene Neumann, fourth Bishop of Philadelphia, lived from 1811-1860. Born in
Bohemia, he made his religions career as a priest in the Diocese of Philadelphia. He is credited with
founding the first national parish for Italians in the United States, for organizing the first diocese-wide
Forty Hours’ Devotion in America, establishing the first Catholic schools in many parts of the country,
and founding of the Third Order of Sisters of St. Francis. His Redemptorist order continues to administer
the shrine church today. Group activities include a guided tour of the Shrine Church and Museum,
confession, adoration and Mass (regular schedule for sacraments. Please enquire.)
National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia – Philadelphia Pennsylvania
A 15th century wife, mother, widow and nun, famed as a Peacemaker, St. Rita was a lifetime advocate
of Reconciliation, and Helper in difficult situations. Construction of this South Philadelphia parish church
began in 1907. As in many inner-city parishes, the neighborhood prospered then declined, and so did
membership and Mass attendance. In 1992, the Augustinian Friars, who had served the parish since
its founding, began exploring options for the renewal of the parish. Designation of the church as the
National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia by the Bishops of the United States was the catalysts they were
seeking. In 2000 the lower church was renovated and transformed into a shrine devoted to the saint.
After this St. Rita’s emerged as a center of prayer, devotion and pilgrimage. St. Rita’s is alive once more
with a vibrant, growing parish community and growing numbers of pilgrims who travel afar to reach the
blessings available at this holy place. Group activities guided tour, adoration and Confession. Gift shop.
Black Madonna of Czestochowa – Doylestown Pennsylvania
The original, oil portrait of Our Lady of Czestochowa, known everywhere as “the Black Madonna of
Czestochowa,” portrays the Virgin Mary as the “hodegetria,”one who shows the way. Her right hand
gestures away from herself to call attention to the Jesus as the source of salvation. Jesus, in turn, is
blessing the viewer with his right hand, holding the gospel in his left hand. The Virgin is dressed in robes
covered with the fleur de lis, a universal symbol of Mary. For 600 years the painting has hung in the
church in Czestochowa, Poland, its likeness of significance for all Polish people, the world over (including
St. Pope John Paul II). The Virgin of Czestochowa is credited with saving the Jasna Gora Monastery in
Poland, when 4000 Swedish troops could not capture the church, held by 70 monks and 180 locals.
On April 1, 1652, in thanks for this miracle, the King of Poland “crowned” Our Lady of Czestochowa as
Queen and Protector of Poland. Czestochowa is the most popular shrine in all of Poland, with many
Polish Catholics paying a pilgrimage visit once each year. The painting in the shrine church in
Doylestown is a faithful copy and object of veneration by Polish Americans and countless other visitors
each year. Group activities Mass, Confession, Perpetual Novena, cafeteria, gift shop, guided tour.
Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted – Youngstown Ohio
In 1964 the communist government of Hungary forced the closure of many Catholic schools, churches,
monasteries and hospitals, causing a group of Franciscan Friars in Transylvania, a mountainous
province, to flee to America. They soon established the Shrine of Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted in
Youngstown, a site dedicated to the Madonna of Csiksomiyo, a traditional devotion of Hungarians
worldwide. The shrine, located in a large city park of Youngstown, contains a chapel, outdoor Way of
the Cross, and granite statue of St. Stephen, patron saint of Hungary, which once graced the Hungarian
pavilion of the 1930 New York World’s Fair. Group activities Mass, Stations of the Cross.
Jubilee Museum & Catholic Cultural Center – Columbus Ohio
Located in Columbus Ohio, the Center is acknowledged by the Vatican to be the largest collection of
Roman Catholic art in the USA. Religious objects of many descriptions are housed here in a former
high school, including altars, statues, paintings, stained glass, ancient artifacts, books, manuscripts,
organs, vestments and sacred relics among others. Long-range plans call for creation of a Catholic
cultural center of international reputation characterized by an encyclopedic collection of art and
scholarly research into Catholic culture and life. Group activities guided tour only.