It was a trip to Turin which cemented an idea Sydney Bishop Anthony Percy had been considering over a number of years: a pilgrimage designed to allow young Catholics from across the city an opportunity to reflect on how they could engage both their faith and their desire to enter public or political life.
“I was with a couple of mates, we were on a trip throughout Italy and we were getting a magnificent tour of Salesian youth and training centres,” he says.
“I thought, ‘this is really something that young people would really benefit from,’ and I’ve had this idea of trying to help young people get involved in public and political life and getting them to see it as an act of service and a calling.”
Bishop Percy’s idea has been transformed into the inaugural Lion Pilgrimage, which will run over two weeks in July with tour operator Harvest Journeys and will allow successful applicants to experience Italy through the lens of important Catholic figures, including St Francis of Assisi, St Catherine of Siena, St John Paul II and the recently-canonised St Carlo Acutis.
The pilgrimage takes its lion symbolism from Pope Leo XIV and his predecessor Pope Leo XIII who, according to Bishop Percy, wrote the “first truly social encyclical” Rerum Novarum. The document is credited with developing modern Catholic social teaching, an intellectual tradition founded on the dignity of the human person, the common good, subsidiarity and solidarity.
“These pillars were affirmed by Pope Leo XIII during a period of immense change, and they are very important,” Bishop Percy says.
“If we look at the principle of subsidiarity in particular, it tries to get people involved not so much at the level of government but at the level of intermediary bodies which sit between the individual and the government, and this is what Pope Leo XIII was saying, that if you don’t get involved, then you can’t possibly compete against vast bureaucracies like government. We want our pilgrims to come away from this experience with the ability to make Australia a better country through this lens.”
Pilgrims will also receive preparation sessions introducing these themes. Accompanying Bishop Percy on the pilgrimage will be SmartLoving and Cath Family co-founders Francine and Byron Pirola. Byron says one of the more compelling aspects of the pilgrimage is providing young Catholics with the opportunity to discern how they can practically live out a life of faith and embed its values into the workplace.
“This pilgrimage has got a particular flavour. It’s not marriage-oriented, although that’s a very core part of the journey for some people, but it asks the question ‘how do you actually live a life of mission as a professional or public figure?’” Byron says.
“Do you happen to be a public figure who happens to be a practising Catholic, or are you a practising Catholic who’s chosen to take a public role? They are two very different starting points and hopefully whoever decides to join us can discern the path they wish to take.”
Francine also believes the pilgrimage has a significant connection to the couple’s ministry around marriage and family.
“We’re very conscious that a lot of the formation should be happening, in an ideal world, before marriage, even before engagement,” she says.
“The opportunity to interact with young people, perhaps in early stages of relationships or still single, is really a great one for us to be able to bring some of that wisdom and explore how to transform people in a context that isn’t necessarily traditional but is quite a shared experience.”
Byron also stresses how the pilgrimage, in helping to develop young “lay leadership” can help the pilgrims discern the distinction between an authentic Catholic voice and an effective Catholic voice, an idea which can fuel young Catholic leaders regardless of whether they see their calling to be marriage, the priesthood, or public life more broadly.
“You can’t be an authentic Catholic voice without formation, nor can you be an effective Catholic voice without formation. I make those distinctions because you’re at your most effective when you’re authentic, and these are influenced by how you make your decisions, how you interact with other people,” he says.
“At the core of this experience is the desire to engender a generation of authentic and effective Catholic voices who are considering more of a public expression of their faith through their work and vocation.”
Bishop Percy agrees.
“There’s a great benefit in this pilgrimage to those considering marriage as their vocation, and to those considering the priesthood,” he says.
“Francine and Byron have been involved with marriage education and family education for a long time now, and to have them on this pilgrimage could help those who are considering marriage as their path to understand that marriage is for family, and family is for society and the upholding of society.
“I’m also open to the possibility that those who join the pilgrimage could consider the priesthood as their calling. I’ve been a priest for 35 years now, and the contributions that you can make to people’s lives are quite significant. Hopefully the pilgrimage gives these emerging leaders the freedom to serve people through a wide array of activities.”
Above all, the Pirolas hope that the pilgrims get to meet “like-minded people” who all have the desire to both contribute to the development of Australia and to implement Catholic virtue into their everyday life.
“I hope they will come away with some clarity around practical things and some direction in their life, and feeling equipped and supported and networked. I think it can get quite lonely out in the marketplace if you’re taking a stand based on your faith and your morals on an issue which could be contentious,” Francine says.
“Sometimes it’s just sitting on the bus to the next destination or having a conversation with other people which can be fruitful for the formation of these young leaders.”
Bishop Percy has so far been impressed with the applications, and believes they will continue to flow in.
“The application process so far has been very positive, and we have some great pre-pilgrimage formation programs happening to allow everyone to meet and connect with each other beforehand,” he said.
“The church has a great history of being involved in public and political life in Australian society, and I think this experience will allow the pilgrims to deepen their spiritual life, something which will be substantially important in their future endeavours.”
Find further information about the Lion Pilgrimage here.
