Șumuleu-Ciuc, Romania, Jun 1, 2019 / 03:04 am
Pope Francis celebrated Mass Saturday at a 16th century Marian pilgrimage site in Transylvania, calling upon the Romanians and Hungarians present to "journey together" as a pilgrim people.
"To go on pilgrimage … means leaving behind our security and comfort and setting out for a new land that the Lord wants to give us," Pope Francis said in his homily June 1.
"We come to the feet of our Mother, with few words, to let her gaze upon us, and with that gaze bring us to Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life," he said.
With the votive Mass of Mary Mother of the Church, Pope Francis participated in the annual Pentecost pilgrimage to the Marian Shrine of Șumuleu-Ciuc, the site of a 1567 battle that defeated the Hungarian King John II Sigismund Zápolya, who had attempted to convert the Catholic Székely population to Protestantism.