(ZENIT News / Rome, 02.23.2024).- As a result of the shared experience of a group of young communicators selected by the Dicastery for Communication, the website «From Tourist to Pilgrim» was launched on February 22nd, with the aim of accompanying believers on a journey to become «pilgrims» rather than just «tourists».
As part of the «Faith Communication in the Digital World» project, sixteen young professionals from ten countries, accompanied by experts, had the opportunity to explore the four papal basilicas of Rome not only as architectural monuments, but also as living testimonies of faith.
The website, available in multiple languages, represents a response to the challenge of translating that experience into a digital proposal so that young audiences can discover the basilicas. In the words of the young communicators: «We were moved when we visited the basilicas. Each of us experienced a profound connection with at least one of them. Some of us grasped something truly important for our lives. We want visitors to have the same experience through the digital world. The more capable we are of understanding the origins of our faith, the better we can communicate its Message to reach people’s hearts.»
The figures of saints and artists whose lives and works shaped these symbolic places welcome visitors to the website and invite them to «sit at the table» with them. The table, as a common space for sharing not only food but also perspectives, stories, and experiences, encourages visitors to pause for a moment and dedicate time to a brief reflection.
The primary language chosen to convey the firsthand experience is voice: the sacred spaces, with their artworks, are explained by those who frequent these places daily and welcome pilgrims – art conservators, responsible for excavations and restorations, professors, and religious figures – «witnesses» who, with the warmth of their voices, succeed in conveying their love for what the four papal basilicas represent.
Thus, From Tourist to Pilgrim also becomes a podcast that accompanies pilgrims, guiding them through the most significant pilgrimage sites in Rome, with «stages» that delve into the most important elements of the basilicas: «What may seem only like a square to a tourist transforms into a stage, part of an itinerary, a divine symbol to the pilgrim’s eyes. These small visits are designed to showcase the hidden beauties of Rome, revealed through the lens of pilgrimage.»
Finally, just as the «pilgrim-communicators» have shared their personal testimonies, visitors to the website are also invited to share their experiences through their own social media accounts, leaving a testimony of their pilgrimage, whether real or digital, with the hashtag #FromTouristToPilgrim.
The hope is that, in the perspective of the journey leading to the Jubilee of 2025, this experience will contribute to and encourage the revitalization of the millennia-old tradition of pilgrimage «Ad Limina Apostolorum.» The website can be accessed here: https://basilicas.vatican.va/en.html.
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