MIAMI | Bishop Enrique Delgado has visited Lourdes, France, several times, but navigating its streets had never been much of a challenge — until Pope Leo XIV came to town. Joining South Florida pilgrims at the Marian shrine during the pope's September visit, the auxiliary bishop of Miami found himself navigating streets packed with faithful from around the world.
“You usually can walk with no problems. This time I had to take shortcuts,” he said. “I used my pass to go through barricades!”
For Delgado and more than 100 South Florida pilgrims traveling with the Hospitalité de Miami, the Sept. 26-27 papal visit transformed their annual pilgrimage into an extraordinary encounter with the universal Church — and a reminder of Lourdes' enduring mission of faith, healing and service to the sick.
The Sept. 18-28 pilgrimage was organized by the Hospitalité de Miami, an Archdiocese of Miami organization that arranges pilgrimages to Lourdes twice a year.
The southern French town of Lourdes is one of the most famous Church-recognized sites of Marian apparitions.
It had been nearly 20 years since a pope had visited Lourdes, said Debra Bartkowski, vice president of the Hospitalité de Miami.
Pilgrims from approximately 25 Archdiocese of Miami parishes participated in the Hospitalité de Miami’s September pilgrimage. They took part in the festivities surrounding the Holy Father’s visit, attending his Saturday prayer at the grotto, arriving as early as 5 a.m. to find a spot for Sunday Mass, and later joining the pope in a candlelight rosary procession. Pilgrims also took snapshots at the “Leo XIV Bridge,” renamed for the duration of his visit.
“For me, to see our Holy Father visit a place that I have considered ‘my home away from home’ for so many years brought tears to my eyes,” said Bartkowski, who has been to Lourdes nearly 20 times. “To watch him visit the grotto where Our Lady appeared, and to be visibly moved, confirmed his and our commitment to Lourdes.”
The Lourdes apparitions
The Lourdes apparitions began Feb. 11, 1858, when 14-year-old Marie Bernarde “Bernadette” Soubirous first encountered the Virgin Mary at the Grotto of Massabielle. During a series of 18 apparitions that ended July 16, Our Lady of Lourdes urged penance and prayer for the conversion of hearts and said that “the people are to come here in procession.”
During the apparitions, a spring appeared near the grotto. Young Bernadette reported that the Virgin Mary asked her to drink and wash in the water – a tradition that continues to this day.
More than 7,000 cases of claimed Lourdes-related healings have been recorded. To date, more than 70 healings have been recognized as miraculous by the Church. Many occurred after contact with the water at Lourdes.
The historic Hospitalité de Miami
The Hospitalité de Miami is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Official hospitalités are organizations dedicated to accompanying sick pilgrims to Lourdes, working in association with the Hospitalité Notre Dame de Lourdes in France.
The Hospitalité de Miami was established by Archbishop Thomas Wenski in 2016. In 2017, it was officially recognized by the bishop of Tarbes-Lourdes as part of the Hospitalité Notre Dame de Lourdes family. The Hospitalité de Miami remains the only officially recognized archdiocesan hospitalité in the U.S.
Beyond organizing pilgrimages, the Hospitalité de Miami is dedicated to accompanying sick, elderly and disabled pilgrims to Lourdes, helping them experience the sanctuary's spiritual traditions. Lay and medical volunteers assist pilgrims with special needs throughout their stay, while others serve at the sanctuary's baths, train station and specialized facilities for the sick and disabled. Through their service, volunteers help pilgrims with physical limitations participate in the religious celebrations and traditions of Lourdes, reflecting the organization's commitment to compassion, prayer and human dignity.
Victor E. Rocha, the organization's president, and his wife, Kimberly, first encountered the Hospitalité de Miami at an information session in February 2019 at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Miami.
“Within five minutes, I looked at Kim, Kim looked at me, and we both said it at the same time: we’re going,” he chuckled.
Since September 2019, the couple has participated in six pilgrimages. They also made an official commitment in 2025 to serve at the Sanctuary of Lourdes every year, as their circumstances permit.
“What I tell everybody is that I discovered heaven on earth,” said Rocha about Lourdes. “It’s a place filled with grace, as Mary is. It’s full of love, humility, obedience, and hope. Those are things we all need, and that’s why I go back every year, because I need all of those things.”
For Rocha, September's pilgrimage was unforgettable. A Peruvian American born in Springfield, Illinois, Rocha feels a connection to Pope Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, and served as a missionary in Peru.
“Seeing him there in Lourdes was particularly moving to me,” he said.
Rocha was also impressed by the pilgrims in their group. “The way they just really embraced the whole trip,” he said. “The grace that they had, and the way that the Spirit moved when we were in a room together… it was palpable, the faith that they had. And you could feel the joy that they were feeling in their hearts.”
The Miami group flew to Paris and then to Pau, France, before traveling about an hour by bus to the remote town of Lourdes. Their pilgrimage began Sept. 18, eight days before Pope Leo’s visit. Monsignor Kenneth Schwanger, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Miami and chairman of the Hospitalité de Miami's board, witnessed “a building sense of excitement as the weekend approached.”
“The Holy Father, himself, answered Our Lady's call to come in procession/pilgrimage to Lourdes,” he reflected. “It was a great confirmation of the mission.”
Joining Pope Leo XIV: Grotto, Mass and candlelight procession
Following Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in Lourdes on Sept. 26, Bishop Delgado managed to stand near the Holy Father as he visited the Grotto of Massabielle to pray and drink Lourdes water. The pope's words were full of compassion for the sick.
“Mother full of love, we entrust to you our most urgent personal intentions, especially those of the sick and suffering, as well as all those who accompany them, who have come together to find strength and healing at the spring of Massabielle,” prayed Pope Leo. “We pray that you will remove all the obstacles that still separate us from your beloved Son and that he may reign in all hearts.”
Preparing the Sanctuary of Lourdes to receive thousands of pilgrims during the papal visit was an enormous undertaking that required more than 2,000 volunteers, more than 10 kilometers of security barriers and nearly 1,000 temporary toilets, according to a Sept. 29 email newsletter from the Sanctuary of Lourdes.
Sunday Mass with Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 27 was held outdoors overlooking the castle-like spires of the Basilica of Lourdes to accommodate an estimated 150,000 pilgrims. Miami clergy, including Bishop Delgado, Bishop Fernando Isern, Msgr. Schwanger, Father Fredy A. Yara, Deacon Jorge Matamala and Deacon Isidoro Villa, participated in the Mass alongside the pope. The Rocha family served during the Mass, Kimberly as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion and Victor holding an umbrella to protect the consecrated hosts.
“Brothers and sisters, pilgrims from France and from throughout the world, in seeing you gathered here this morning in our Mother’s home, I see the universal face of the Church,” said Pope Leo in his homily. “Some of you have crossed continents, traveled far, and brought your joys and burdens to this sacred grotto. What a joy it is to be together, as one heart and one family.”
Bishop Delgado, who is also Peruvian, said concelebrating Mass with the pope was one of the highlights of the pilgrimage for him. “It was a beautiful setting, a shining morning with no rain,” he said. “All the moments with the pope are very special because everyone wants to be close to him because it’s like being close to our Mother Church.”
That evening, the Miami pilgrims and Pope Leo XIV took part in the traditional candlelight rosary procession around the Sanctuary of Lourdes. Pope Leo walked with the winding procession rather than observing from a terrace as previous popes had done, according to Vatican News.
Msgr. Schwanger was inspired by Pope Leo's emphasis on Lourdes as a place of service to others.
“Here, no one is turned away due to their frailty,” said Pope Leo regarding Lourdes, as part of his homily. “Your crutches, your wheelchairs and your hidden tears are not obstacles; instead, they are the very place where you are fully respected and welcomed, and where you can experience a transforming encounter with the infinite love of God.”
“Lourdes is blessed as a place for professing the beauty and sanctity of life, for life is welcomed here as a precious gift from God, and is called to flourish for ever in the love of the Father,” the pope said.
For Msgr. Schwanger, the pope's message reflected the mission of the Hospitalité de Miami and its commitment to accompanying the sick and vulnerable with compassion and dignity.
“Archbishop Wenski often reminds us that a human person has problems; the person is not a problem,” he said.
Through its pilgrimages and service to the sick, the Hospitalité de Miami puts that conviction into practice — a mission that, as Msgr. Schwanger explained, “helps us to live this out as an archdiocesan family.”
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For more photos of the Hospitalité de Miami’s pilgrimage, visit https://www.hdmiami.org/PopeLeoXIV
