DAVAO City, April 9, 2013—As part of the celebration of the Year of Faith, Catholics in Mindanao will hold the 1st Catholic Traditional Pilgrimage on April 27, 2013. 
Organized by the Latin Mass Society (LMS) of Davao, the event is part of the activities recommended by the Pontifical Commission for the New Evangelization.
According to Bro. Ryan Mejillano, founder of LMS, the pilgrimage will be traditional in the sense that pilgrims will not ride a bus while going in pilgrimage but instead, will walk for 12 kilometers.
“Distance of the pilgrimage will be 12 kilometers. We will be visiting Churches and during the visit, we will chant the Apostles Creed in Latin. We will also chant the official prayer for the Pope. During the pilgrimage, we will pray the Holy Rosary in Latin and also in the Visayan dialect and English as well,” Mejillano added.
Prior to the pilgrimage walk, a mass in extraordinary form will be celebrated at 6:30 a.m. by Fr. Nicola Martino, SDV (Society of Divine Vocations) at the Sacred Heart Parish. After the Latin Mass, Fr. Russell Bantiles, the spiritual director of LMS will give a message.
Among the churches to be visited by the pilgrims are the Sta. Ana Shrine Parish, San Pedro Cathedral, San Pablo Parish, Ascension of the Lord Parish and the Shrine of the Holy Infant of Prague where pilgrims will be given spiritual conferences.
Mejillano will give the first conference on the topic “Pilgrimage in the Year of Faith” while Fr. Jorge Angga, archdiocesan spiritual director of the Catholic Faith Defenders (CFD) in Davao will talk about the “beauty of our Catholic faith. Confession and solemn benediction will follow after the conferences.
The whole day pilgrimage aims to achieve the plenary indulgence extended to the sacred devotion and to show that the tradition of the Church is not abandoned but is well promoted.
Aside from Catholics in the archdiocese of Davao, Catholic groups and individuals from nearby dioceses are also welcomed to join the pilgrimage.
Registration started last April 1 and will go on until April 20 with a fee of P180.00 including pilgrim kit, snacks, water refill and lunch.
For inquiries, you may contact LMS through their mobile numbers 0948-9316441 and 0917-3211883.
LMS is a member of the Archdiocesan Council for Lay Apostolate and Integrated Movements which celebrates Latin Masses every month. The archdiocese also assigned the group a parish where the extraordinary form of the mass may be celebrated and a priest for spiritual direction. (Jandel Posion)
