Altar pilgrimage
During the Ministrantenwallfahrt or pilgrimage to Rome , thousands hit altar , for a week together in Rome to spend. The pilgrimage first took place in the 1960s and has been held every four or five years since then. The highlights of this pilgrimage are a communal Holy Mass and / or an audience of the Pope on St. Peter's Square .
The acolytes usually spend a week in Rome. The pilgrimage week is framed by the opening and closing services of the individual dioceses . In addition to the official church services and the papal audience, the acolytes use the week in Rome for an individual program, such as sightseeing and their own church services.
Overview
Until 2010, the pilgrimage was organized by the International Association of Altar servers (CIM) for altar boys from all over Europe . In 2014 the pilgrimage was organized by the Office for Pastoral Care of Young People (AFJ) of the German Bishops' Conference and the German dioceses . In addition to German participants, a small number of acolytes from the Archdiocese of Vienna and Latvia also took part.
The pilgrims are identified by the pilgrim shawl that all participants wear and that has a different color for each participating country. The pilgrimage has a different theme every year.
| year | theme | Pilgrim cloth 1 | Participant 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | |||
| 1967 | 4,000 | ||
| 1970 | 3,000 | ||
| 1980 | |||
| 1985 | You should be my witnesses | ||
| 1990 | Living stones to build the church | 17,000 | |
| 1995 | Blessed are the peacemakers | ||
| 2001 3 | On the way to a new world | dark blue | 16,000 / 22,000 |
| 2006 | Spiritus vivificat ( lat. The Holy Spirit animates) | Light Blue | 35,000 / 42,000 |
| 2010 4 | Drink from the true source | vanilla | 45,000 / 53,000 |
| 2014 | Free! That is why it is permissible to do good. | different 5 | 46.450 / 47.300 |
| 2018 | Find peace and pursue it! | in country / diocese colors | over 60,000 |
Pilgrimages
Pilgrimage 2006
The 2006 pilgrimage took place from July 31st to August 5th. A total of 42,000 acolytes from 17 countries took part; 35,000 of them came from Germany alone. The largest group was the Archdiocese of Freiburg with 9,024 participants.
Pilgrimage 2010
The official 2010 pilgrimage took place on August 3rd and 4th; On the days before and after that, acolytes from all over the world came to see and get to know Rome. A total of around 53,000 acolytes (about 45,000 of them from Germany) came to Rome. As in the previous time, the largest group was the Archdiocese of Freiburg with around 11,000 acolytes. The pilgrim shawl of the groups from Germany was vanilla in color. Instead of a holy mass as in the previous pilgrimages, a general audience was held on St. Peter's Square with Pope Benedict XVI. and a birthday party to mark the 50th anniversary of the CIM. Around two dozen German bishops took part in the pilgrimage or celebrated services with their groups in the great basilicas of Rome. Benedict XVI. interrupted his summer vacation in Castelgandolfo to meet the acolytes .
Pilgrimage 2014
The official pilgrimage of the altar boys from Germany took place on August 5th and 6th, 2014 (no international CIM altar boys' pilgrimage). Almost 48,000 acolytes from Germany (46,450), the Archdiocese of Vienna (500) and Latvia (50) took part. In contrast to the previous pilgrimages, the 26 German dioceses used pilgrim cloths of different colors. The only white pilgrim shawl was given to the Pope during the audience on Tuesday, August 5, 2014. Once again, the diocese of Freiburg was the largest group with around 10,000 participants.
Pilgrimage 2015
International pilgrimage with the motto “Here I am, send me” (Isa 6: 8) took place in August 2015. (20,000 participants)
August 4, 2015: Address by Pope Francis
Pilgrimage 2018
The official pilgrimage 2018 took place from July 28th to August 4th and is under the motto “Search for peace and chase it!” (Ps 34.15b) with 68,000 acolytes from all over the world.
Web links
- Information and reports on the Rome pilgrimage 2006 by the altar server working group Diocese of Würzburg (MAKDW)
- Reports and information about the Rome pilgrimage 2010 from the diocese of Würzburg
- International altar boys' pilgrimage 2010 - overview of the Rome pilgrimages of the dioceses in Germany
- Official website 2014
References and comments
- ↑ a b romwallfahrt-minis.de accessed on May 8, 2014
- ^ German Bishops' Conference: International altar boys pilgrimage 2018 to Rome. Retrieved October 11, 2018 .
- ↑ The website of the altar boys of the Diocese of Würzburg ( Memento of the original from May 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. offers an overview of the colors of the pilgrim shawls of the individual dioceses.
- ↑ Facts about the pilgrimage 2010 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 168 kB)
- ↑ domradio.de August 5, 2010: St. Peter's Square full of acolytes
- ↑ Pilgrims' booklet of the altar boys' pilgrimage Rome 2014 , produced by Haus Altenberg GmbH Düsseldorf, published by the Office for Youth Pastoral Care of the German Bishops' Conference
- ↑ The Archdiocese of Cologne did not take part, as it is carrying out its own pilgrimage in 2015.
- ^ Rome pilgrimage of the altar boys August 3rd - 9th, 2014 - color code 2014 ( Memento from May 12th, 2014 in the Internet archive ) Altar server working group of the diocese of Würzburg called on May 8th, 2014
- ↑ http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/de/speeches/2015/august/documents/papa-francesco_20150804_ministranti.html
- ↑ Rome 2018 . In: Ministrantenwallfahrt.de . November 1, 2017 ( ministrantenwallfahrt.de [accessed June 26, 2018]).
