Pilgrimage is the Force of Cleansing

“It is a great pleasure to be here again, many of us have returned to Lourdes for the second or third time”, said Tibor Berta. He added that each participant arrived at the international pilgrimage starting on Friday with different aims: some have come to ask, to give thanks, and others for absolution or to calm down and immerse themselves in their faith by getting away from the time and space of home. “Let’s pray for ourselves, others, our families and fellow soldiers.”, he said.

The head of the Military Ordinariate recalled that the tradition of pilgrimages goes back to early times; in the Middle Ages, pilgrimages were mainly penance. Still today, many wish for cleansing and strengthening in faith. “Pilgrimages can be the times of cleansing and strengthening”. He also said that among the significance of the place of worship in Lourdes is that it helps people find a new direction.

This year too, the Hungarian military pilgrims pray for the whole Hungarian Defence Forces and those heroes who lost their lives in military service. In his speech, Bishop Tibor Berta recalled the greeting speech of Pope Leo XIV, following his election on 8 May, in which the new Head of Church used the words of the resurrected Jesus Christ: “Peace be with you!” The bishop said that “this statement, which can be interpreted as a program, is not only about laying down arms or that I am not angry with the other. This is more than that: Jesus’s peace is that of the creating Father, the peace of love’s harmony, and that is what we have to show to the world.”

The International Military Pilgrimage has been held each year since 1958 in Lourdes, where in 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to the fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous 18 times in the Grotto of Apparitions at Massabielle. Since the apparitions, the Catholic Church has officially acknowledged altogether 72 miracles. Annually, 12 to 15 thousand pilgrims arrive for the International Military Pilgrimage from 35–40 countries.