Over 50,000 altar servers gather in Rome for yearly pilgrimage

Pope Francis greets altar servers from France in 2022. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jul 29, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

More than 50,000 pilgrims representing 88 dioceses across 20 European countries have descended upon Rome this week to participate in the 13th International Pilgrimage of Altar Servers 2024 taking place from July 29 to Aug. 2.

Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium (CIM), an international association for altar boys and girls, has been organizing these special pilgrimages to Rome since 1961. This year’s motto “With You” is based on words from Isaiah 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Several groups of altar servers could be seen on Monday in different basilicas in Rome — including the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere and the Church of the Gesù — preparing and celebrating liturgies as part of their pilgrimage in the Eternal CIty.

“The pilgrimage to Rome enables us to experience the diversity and unity of our global community of altar servers,” CIM president Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, of Luxembourg said at a press conference on Monday.

“It is all the more significant to see that we all come from different countries, speak different languages, and pray in different languages but we all have one service and one responsibility. This unites the altar servers, so that each of them is a peacemaker,” he added. 

Besides liturgical celebrations, the altar servers will also participate in a variety of activities over the week, including cultural visits to museums and social exchanges with other international pilgrims as well as music, film, and drama festivals. A center providing vocational pastoral support and counseling has also been set up in a location near St. Peter’s Square.     

In an interview with EWTN News, altar server Tobias Kiss from Romania said he is especially excited to see Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square on Tuesday as well as meet other altar servers, priests, and pastoral workers from different countries throughout the five-day international pilgrimage.

“What we all have in common is the fact that we serve at the altar. We like serving at the altar because we’re close to the Lord Jesus. We get to be in touch — in sync — with everything that happens at church. We are a community of the soul, of a belief,” Kiss told EWTN News.

Approximately 35,000 out of the 50,000 registered pilgrims are from dioceses spread across Germany. President of the Commision for Youth Ministry of the German Bishops’ Conference Auxiliary Bishop Johannes Wübbe said he was pleased about his country’s high youth participation this year.

“There is a long tradition of ministry in [German] parishes and so there are a lot of young people who do this in the parish,” the bishop told EWTN News.

Wübbe said altar servers are also a “beacon of hope for the whole Church in Germany,” especially during a time when it is often difficult for young people to be a witness of faith or be actively present at church.

Other countries represented at this year’s pilgrimage include Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Ukraine.