Pilgrim Power

Jesuit High School's World Youth Day 2016 pilgrims arrived in Krakow, Poland this week -- along with Pope Francis -- as their extraordinary travels and experiences in Europe continue with World Youth Day's biggest events this weekend.

The 100-plus pilgrims, including 88 Jesuit students plus 26 chaperones, have two more full days of WYD activities, including Sunday's (July 31) closing Mass celebrated by the Pope along with some 2 million fellow pilgrims from around the globe.

They departed Tampa on July 19 and started their pilgrimage in Rome on July 20. They traveled across Italy and then Austria and the Czech Republic before reaching Krakow this week. Among the dozens of historically resonant experiences was a visit this week to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial to the Nazi-era concentration and extermination camps. Jesuit president Fr. Richard C. Hermes, S.J. led the pilgrims in a prayer for the Jewish people.

Friday (July 29) in Krakow, their remarkable experiences continued with Mass celebrated by Soane Patita Paini Cardinal Mafi, who at age 53 last year became the youngest Cardinal in the Catholic Church, and first ever from Tonga.

The homepage photo features Cardinal Mafi surrounded by the Jesuit pilgrims after Mass.

Follow all of the Jesuit pilgrims' experiences on Twitter with Jesuit's Fr. Patrick Hough, S.J., @jphoughsj. To view numerous photos from the pilgrimage go to the Jesuit High School of Tampa facebook page at www.facebook.com/jesuittampa.