Father Edward Friel, on pilgrimage in Rome, was among the thousands to join in rosary prayers the evening of Feb. 24 in St. Peter’s Square for the health of Pope Francis. The 88-year-old pontiff has been hospitalized since Feb. 14; he is battling pneumonia in both lungs.
Father Friel, pastor of Mary, Queen of All Saints in Pennsauken, was in Rome from Feb. 18-25. He journeyed to the Jubilee Year Holy Doors in Rome, carrying a pilgrimage cross with countless prayer intentions made by hundreds of faithful from parishes and schools around the Diocese of Camden.
Father Friel visited and prayed at Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Saint John Lateran, Saint Paul Outside the Walls, and Saint Mary Major, carrying the cross with prayer intentions. Father Michael Romano, vice-rector and director of vocations at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, joined him at Saint Paul Outside the Walls, where Father Romano graciously presented the pilgrimage cross with prayer intentions.
The wooden cross, made in 2017 by Sam Lopez, a parishioner of Mary, Queen of All Saints, has traveled with Father Friel on the Camino de Santiago Compostela, Spain; the Holy Land; Fatima, Portugal; Milan and Turin – as well as with young adults on World Youth Days in 2019 and 2023.
“Each person who has held the cross and prayed on it is more important than the amount of places it has traveled to,” Father Friel said, adding that their faith is shown in every prayer intention.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
