What is the difference between a traveller and a pilgrim?

It would be a long journey, which I suspected would end badly. The American border had been closed for almost two years due to the pandemic, when the Bride decided she was going home to visit her mother.

Canada’s Catholic pilgrimage industry is poised to make a comeback this autumn as long as the COVID-19 metrics keep trending in the right direction.

After 61 years Gideon Travel has reached the end of the road. 

Although the coronavirus upended Jacqueline Maurais’ hopes of travelling to Germany this summer to see the world’s most famous Passion Play, like many faithful Canadians, her plans have not been cancelled but postponed.

There were few like Joseph Gideon in the world of Catholic travel where for six decades he made dreams come true for those seeking a pilgrimage experience.

Whether it’s a pilgrimage or a family vacation or simply a day trip, there are plenty of interesting spots across Canada to visit this summer that are linked to the history and heritage of Catholicism. The list is long, but here we are offering a few suggestions across Canada.

After celebrating daily Mass at Terminals 1 and 3, airport chaplain Fr. John Mullins likes to walk around Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, praying the rosary and keeping a watchful eye. 

Abby Pyrz was 18 years old when she was bitten by the travel bug. 

By the time this scribbling reaches publication online and in print, our long summer journey will be more than half completed.

DROGHEDA, Ireland - Beyond the must-see sites and attractions like the Cliffs of Moher, Giant’s Causeway and the Guinness warehouse, there are many places in Ireland that are overlooked by tourists. 

TRAVESIO, ITALY - It’s not every Sunday you’re escorted to Mass by a procession. Upon arriving in Travesio in northern Italy, a marching band and about a dozen people carrying banners representing various comunes (or municipalities) in the region come into view. As they lead us through the winding streets to the parish of St. Quirino for a Mass celebrated by the regional bishop, we wave back at onlookers. With a backdrop of bells ringing atop the stone tower beside the church, it’s time for the celebration to begin. 

LIMA, Peru - Half-hidden behind palm trees at the end of a once elegant avenue in a now rundown neighborhood, the Convento de los Descalzos -- the Convent of the Barefoot Friars -- has witnessed half a millennium of Peruvian history.

Age, economic woes and benign neglect have taken their toll, and the convent has fallen on hard times. But Alberta Alvarez, the director of a foundation established less than a year ago to revitalize the convent, is trying to change that.

The regions of Lanaudiere and Mauricie, known together as “Authentic Quebec,” offer a contrast to the sophisticated metropolis of Montreal.  Both regions are rich in Catholic heritage.

Beginning a half hour east of Montreal, they are bordered in the south by Le Chemin Du Roy (the King’s Highway), which connects Quebec City to Montreal along the St. Lawrence  River, and in the north by lakes and dense forests.

In Lanaudiere, visiting the town of Terrebonne I learned of the work of Fr. Louis Lepage, the “seignior” of this land in 1720 who built the first church. Today the site, Ile des Moulins, is one of only two important reconstructed Quebec heritage sites.

Germany’s province of Saxony is mainly a Protestant Lutheran stronghold. However, I visited one of Germany’s Via Sacra routes. It consisted of three different spiritual centres, situated amongst magnificent scenery, each with a unique religious dimension. Because of this area’s proximity to the Czech Republic and Poland, Catholic ties are strong.