Marco Carvalho
António, Ltd, a travel agency that focuses on arranging pilgrimages, is set to organize a second religious expedition to Italy in early August. Last month, the company successfully took a group of 24 pilgrims from Macau and the adjacent Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong to Rome and the Vatican.
Set to take place from August 2 to August 13th, the pilgrimage will once again bring together Catholics from both Chinese Special Administrative Regions in their quest for holiness. Alongside Rome and the Vatican, the group of 22 pilgrims will also explore Assisi, Florence and several other Italian cities: “We successfully organized an eleven-day pilgrimage to Italy in June with a group of 24 faithful Christians from Macau and Hong Kong. Given the considerable interest and numerous requests for another journey in August, we decided to arrange a second pilgrimage during the summer holidays. We will be taking 22 Catholics from Macau and Hong Kong to Italy for twelve days,” Zaneta Lo from António, Ltd, told “O Clarim”. “In addition to Rome, the group will also visit Assisi, Florence, Padua, Venice, Milan and Turin. The pilgrims will tour the Grotto of Saint Benedict in Subiaco, the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, the Basilica of Santa Croce, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, among many, many more significant and historical buildings”, the pilgrimage operator added.
Pope Francis has designated the 2025 Holy Year as a time for Catholics to renew themselves as “Pilgrims of Hope”. According to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, more than 10 million pilgrims have already visited Rome since the start of the Jubilee of Hope celebrations, opened by the late Pope, on December 24th, 2024.
As for thousands of visitors hailing from all over the world, the main event of the pilgrimage that is being organized by António, Ltd. is set to take place in Rome. The 22-strong group of pilgrims will pass through the large and imposing Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica, benefiting from a plenary indulgence, a special type of forgiveness that removes all temporal punishment due to one’s sins: “In Rome, the group will visit Saint Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican, the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the Vatican Museum, the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls and the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs”, Mrs. Lo stated. “Additionally, the pilgrims will also have a chance to join a Mass, presided over by our new Pope, Leo XIV”, she said.
In Italy, the local pilgrims will receive spiritual guidance from a Chinese priest which has been living in Rome for over a decade. The cleric will serve as the spiritual director of the group and the host of the 12-days pilgrimage experience: “We have tried to invite a priest from Macau or from Hong Kong to lead this pilgrimage. However, due to prior commitments, none of these priests were available to attend a 12-day pilgrimage and to stay away from Macau or from Hong Kong for so long. Instead, we decided to invite a Chinese priest, who already has experience with pilgrimages. This priest has been living in Italy for the last ten years and we asked him to be the spiritual director this time. Nevertheless, we are also welcoming any Macau or Hong Kong priests who could help to lead our pilgrimage in the future”, Zaneta Lo emphasized.
Portugal and Spain join the list
Established in 2022, António, Ltd organizes its first pilgrimage two years ago. The company took a group of pilgrims of Macau and Hong Kong to the Holy Land, before the resurgence of the Israeli Palestinian conflict plunged the region into a new spiral of violence. Mostly made up of local Catholics, the group of pilgrims ventured into the labyrinthine streets of Jerusalem and discovered the ancient monasteries of the Judean desert, on a journey that also helped to reveal the way local Catholics live, two thousand years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Ever since, the Catholic pilgrimage travel service has also organized religious expeditions to Japan and Mainland China. In the coming year, António, Ltd will add Turkey, Greece, Portugal and Spain to its portfolio: “Aside from Italy, we also organized pilgrimages to Japan, where we visited Nagasaki, to Israel and to Beijing. We visited Beijing last year. Since 2025 is the Jubilee Year of Hope, our focus this year was primarily to organize pilgrimages to Italy. Nevertheless, besides hosting these two pilgrimages for the general public, we were also asked by two associations to help organize two private pilgrimages to Italy. In November, one of the associations will take fifty people to Italy. One month later, in December, 22 other faithful will endure the same experience”, Zaneta Lo told “O Clarim”. “In 2026, we will bring more options of pilgrimage to our fellow Catholics, including tours to Turkey and to Greece, where we will retrace Saint Paul’s missionary journeys, and to Spain and Portugal, where we will walk the Saint James Way”, Mrs. Lo concludes.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 300 to 330 million tourists visit the world’s key religious sites every year. Approximately 600 million national and international religious voyages take place every tear, forty per cent of which take place in Europe alone. Being key tourism destinations, religious heritage sites not only drive international tourism and economic growth but also provide important meeting grounds for visitors and host communities, making vital contributions to tolerance, respect and mutual understanding between different cultures, the United Nations specialized body claims. In 2022, 340 million pilgrims traveled to temples, churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship, with the aim of reinforcing their experience of faith. The World Tourism Organization estimates that religious tourism has generated revenues of between 170 and 200 billion patacas in 2022 alone.
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