WASHINGTON — The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception will host a one-day annual Marian Pilgrimage for Asian and Pacific Catholics May 11.
The event will begin with a 1pm procession of many of the Marian images venerated in Asia and the Pacific. Prayer and a crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary will follow. A 2pm Rosary will be said, with a different Asian community leading each mystery.
Bishop Barry Knestout, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, will conclude with a multilingual Mass at 2:30pm, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says.
The event is open to everyone. The communities that will take part include Bengali, Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Lebanese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Montagnard, Pakistani, Samoan, Sri Lankan, Tongan, Thai and Vietnamese Catholics. Indian Catholics from the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites will also participate.
The Asian Pacific Catholic Network of the mid-Atlantic region is sponsoring the pilgrimage in partnership with the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat on Cultural Diversity.
The secretariat aims to promote understanding of cultural diversity in the Church. It also trains pastoral leaders for inter-cultural work through the program Building Intercultural Competencies for Ministers.
Washington’s basilica is the largest Roman Catholic church in North America. It is one of the 10 largest churches in the world. It has more than 70 chapels and oratories that reflect the ethnic and cultural traditions of the Catholic faithful in the United States.