Source: Zenit
SYDNEY, Australia, JUNE 21, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Some 5,000 pilgrims from down under are expected in Rome for the canonization of Australia's first saint, Blessed Mary MacKillop.
The managing director of Harvest Pilgrimages, Philip Ryall, reported that the Oct. 17 canonization is shaping up to be the largest pilgrimage ever to leave the shores of Australia and New Zealand, easily surpassing World Youth Day 2005 when 2,200 youth traveled to Cologne, Germany.
"There is going to be an Aussie invasion of Rome," Ryall said. "We have been inundated with groups booking their pilgrimage every day.”
Mary MacKillop, born in Victoria in 1842, founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, which established schools and charitable organizations across Australia and was devoted to the care of orphans, neglected children, the homeless, sick and elderly. She died in 1909.
Article provided by ZENIT News Agency.