As one pilgrim told the Register: ‘Hope takes on a radiant strength when thousands carry it together.’

As Pope Leo XIV closed the Holy Door today in Rome that was opened by the late Pope Francis last year, stories are being told of the many graces that pilgrims experienced, traversing the path that more than 33 million people crossed, just like the thousands who took part in the first Jubilee proclaimed by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. 

With a great desire for renewal and revival, pilgrims are still basking in the joys and blessings of their own journeys. EWTN News’ own Colm Flynn, broadcast journalist and Register contributor, said the year has been especially fruitful since it also marked a major milestone in his life. 

“For my wife Paola and me, the Jubilee Year of Hope was especially meaningful, as we were newly married. And although our wedding took place in my hometown of Ennis, Ireland, it felt deeply special to return to Rome as part of the Jubilee of Communicators, in which we were taking part — both being reporters with EWTN.”

Paola Arriaza also works as a broadcast journalist for the global Catholic network, and Colm said it was special to cross the threshold alongside one another. 

“Together, we walked through the Holy Door of Hope at the Vatican, Paola wearing her wedding dress and me in my best suit. It was a truly beautiful moment. People around us stopped, watched and smiled as this newly married couple processed through the door, in search of the hope and spiritual renewal walking through the Holy Door offered.”

Joined by family, friends and work colleagues, the couple “walked together down to the crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica for a special Mass to bless our marriage. There was a real sense of joy and hope, and also from the strangers who were passing by and could see our happiness,” Flynn recalled to the Register. 

“Beyond that special moment, it was another year filled with extraordinary journeys and inspirational stories from around the world. In Iraq, for example, we produced a documentary marking the 10th anniversary of the ISIS invasion, highlighting the hope that still endures in small Christian communities despite the devastation inflicted by terrorism. I also traveled to Algeria, Lebanon and Turkey, where I encountered Christians living as minorities, often persecuted, facing social stigma, and yet remaining remarkably strong in their faith.”

And just as the camera’s lens brought those stories to life, they also touched Flynn deeply. 

“Witnessing this always fills me with hope, especially when I reflect on how easily we can sometimes be weak or complacent in our own faith, without facing anything close to the challenges endured by Christians elsewhere in the world.”

And now with the closing of the door, Flynn said:

“Naturally, I’m a little disappointed that the Jubilee Year of Hope has come to an end, but my hope is that its message, its blessings, and its call to hope will continue well into 2026 and far beyond. But personally, I’m so grateful it marked my first year of marriage.”

As one of the 30 pilgrims of hope who walked an entire route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, recent Catholic convert Marina Frattaroli said the Jubilee invited us all “to become pilgrims of hope.”

The Eucharistic pilgrimage “first introduced me to the pilgrim identity. After the incredible experience of crossing the United States with Jesus, I prayed for ways to continue the journey. The election of a new Pope falling within the Jubilee felt like another call to look beyond daily routines and remember that we belong to something larger: a global Church united by one heart, the Heart of Jesus, the ultimate source of hope.”

And she was able to make her way to Rome for a monumental occasion. 

“My life rearranged just in time to make a Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome to witness the canonization Mass of Sts. Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati. Seeing St. Peter’s gleaming in the Roman sun for the first time as a Catholic, praying with our beloved new Pope Leo, surrounded by thousands of pilgrims, was a joyful mountaintop moment. Receiving the Eucharist alongside the families of the new saints and the friends I met along the way felt like an outpouring of God’s generosity. Hope takes on a radiant strength when thousands carry it together.”

Upon returning statewide, Frattaroli’s eyes opened to the Jubilee opportunities abounding within the U.S., including in her own current city of Dallas. 

“When I discovered that the cathedral downtown is a Jubilee site, the idea that this familiar place offered the same grace as the Holy Doors in Rome astonished me. In Rome, one Holy Door queue was too long for my group to enter. Here, the cathedral can be entered freely every day. It’s profound to receive the same glorious benefit and mercy of a Jubilee indulgence in my own city, not a one-time event but an ongoing invitation woven into daily life.”

And the graces of the year are still being learned.

“Perhaps the Jubilee is best lived when we choose to step out of our routine and make a detour for a grace that touches eternity. This Jubilee, I have seen a spirit of vitality fill my parishes in New York and Dallas: Holy Hours grow full, vocations blossom, prayer initiatives take root, and standing in the aisle during Sunday Mass is a new reality.”

Frattaroli said she has “witnessed Jubilee transformation” and said the “most meaningful pilgrimage may be nearby, where God meets us in our ordinary life. There is time yet to respond to the Jubilee’s exhortation: to remember that hope is not an ideal, but a reality that anchors us, which we, in turn, may offer to the world.”

And these ripples of revival are reverberating everywhere, as Dominican Father Patrick Mary Briscoe told the Register:

“Even in places long considered spiritually indifferent, something unexpected is happening. New York City, the icon of restlessness, ambition and secularism, has seen an unprecedented wave of conversions. At St. Joseph’s in Greenwich Village, the OCIA class has tripled. At St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, numbers have doubled, their pews overflowing. Priests report young adults arriving not because of marketing or trendiness, but because they are seeking meaning, peace and the moral guidance of the Church.”

And the sea of young people waiting to greet Pope Leo, as seen from the aerial shot of the papal plane over the summer, brings this moment clearer into focus. 

“Nowhere has this been clearer than during the Jubilee of Youth. At Tor Vergata, I saw a renewed sense of hope. Seeing a million young people gathered together praying, singing and seeking Christ made the future feel bright and full of possibility. The presence of Pope Leo XIV, calm and fatherly, deepened that sense of renewal. His words and his simple closeness to the crowds reminded us that God is still stirring hearts, still calling people home.”

And now we even have two new saints that reflect this vitality.

“Furthermore, the subsequent canonizations of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati — two luminous witnesses of joyful, modern holiness — have only intensified this momentum. Their lives have become rallying points for a generation longing for purity, purpose and courage,” the priest added.

EWTN Radio host Teresa Tomeo of Catholic Connection lives half the year as a perpetual pilgrim, as she and her husband have been leading others on pilgrimages across Italy for the last 25 years, but “in all of that time, I don’t think we have ever seen more excitement, interest, deep appreciation, and love for the Catholic faith than we have during this Jubilee Year.”

Perhaps it’s a combination of “the world seeing such a beautiful picture of the Church saying goodbye to one Holy Father and then celebrating the choosing of another Vicar of Christ,” Tomeo, who offered travel tips for this special year, mused. 

“One of my most vivid memories from this past Jubilee Year actually occurred on May 8, of course, the day we heard the words Habemus papam. My husband and I were standing as close to St. Peter’s Square as we could get, packed along the Via della Conciliazione with thousands of people from around the world. I was doing a live report on my phone for a cable news operation back in the States. When the announcement was made, many around us not only cheered but started to cry. One woman standing near us was from Norway, I believe. She overheard me talking and said through tears, ‘You must be American, and you’re also Catholic. I’m so happy for you. This is so wonderful. I’m so glad to be here with you and other people celebrating the Catholic Church.’ And she wasn’t even Catholic!”

Tomeo explained that “visiting holy places changes you, and visiting holy sites in a Jubilee Year is even more impactful, again because of what the Church offers her children during this special time,” and she provided even more hope for the faithful who are sad that the year has drawn to a close:

“Being that in 2026 the Church will experience another milestone, the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, I believe the joy will continue; and as a result, more people will be attracted to our faith and perhaps either make their way back to or into the Catholic Church.”

This article was originally posted by NCRegister.