The ancient Catholic tradition of the pilgrimage has seized the imagination of U.S. Catholics. After last year’s four simultaneous pilgrimages that culminated in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress, this year will see a historic display of the universal Church coming together to pay homage to the Eucharistic Lord in a state tailor-made for such devotion.
This year, as the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage resumes with the Drexel Route, spanning the American Southwest from Indianapolis to Los Angeles, a separate but concurrent Eucharistic pilgrimage will unfold in California. The inaugural “Camino de California” will take place from June 6 to June 22, when its pilgrims will unite with those on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage route. The closing Mass will be at Los Angeles’ Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on June 22, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
For more than two and a half centuries, the Franciscan Missions have dotted the California landscape like beads on a rosary, stirring wonder and inciting controversy within the nation’s most populous state. They impressed Pope St. John Paul II during his own pilgrimage in 1987, and they were front and center when Pope Francis canonized the founder of the first nine of the 21 missions, Franciscan Father Junípero Serra, in 2015.
St. Junípero died in 1784 and is buried near the altar of the Mission Basilica of San Carlos in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Tradition holds a common path, El Camino Real, now U.S. Highway 101, united each mission up and down California. This may seem like a logical route to form a pilgrim trail from mission to mission, but the topography, population and sheer size of California have proven such a trail difficult. It is about 620 miles from the northernmost mission in Sonoma to the southernmost mission, San Diego de Alcalá. That length would be the equivalent from the Cathedral of Barcelona to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Efforts are being made by such groups as California Mission Walkers and the Mission Trail Alliance to reestablish El Camino Real as a walking route to all 21 missions.
The inspiration of a statewide Eucharistic pilgrimage encompassing every mission so gripped successful architectural designer Salvatore “Sal” Caruso, he plunged into making it a reality. Caruso was especially driven to see California reconsecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, “as St. Junípero accomplished several hundred years ago,” said Caruso, father of seven, with his youngest, Lorenzo, a seminarian in the Diocese of San Jose.
Smaller pilgrim routes incorporating some of the missions have been increasingly popular. Among them is the annual St. Junípero Serra Walking Pilgrimage within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a route of 35 miles from Mission Santa Barbara to Mission San Buenaventura. The new Camino de California combined the visions of organizers from these smaller pilgrimages for the ambitious 21-mission stretch the Camino de California hopes to achieve.
“[Los Angeles] Archbishop [José] Gomez has said that the Holy Spirit is calling forth new and surprising ways to bear witness to our faith,” observed Greg Wood, who has been involved in the St. Junípero Serra Walking Pilgrimage since its inception. “All of us involved with the founding and planning for [the Camino de California] pilgrimage have experienced a kind of calling of the Holy Spirit, some after experiencing the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage last year and some of us with a passion for reviving the evangelical purpose of the California Missions and the walking route between them.”
“The Holy Spirit is literally opening the door, and we’re just going along for the journey,” Caruso said. After pitching the statewide pilgrimage idea at the biannual meeting of California’s bishops, Caruso discovered those like Wood who also desired to bring the Eucharistic Christ to the people of the state. Another was Andy Allen from the Diocese of Monterey.
“One of our first actions was to reach out to the over 120 religious organizations in the state of California asking for their prayers,” Allen said. The Orders of Malta and Knights of Columbus are two organizations that have lent their talent and resources in helping prepare care packages and assist in logistics.
Inspired by the Gospel, Pope Francis’ summons to go to the peripheries, and this year’s Jubilee of Hope, the Camino de California is intentionally reaching out to those they encounter along some of the more forgotten tracts of California. Fortified by daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, Benediction and Eucharistic processions, the Camino de California will visit 15 designated Jubilee of Hope sites.
“Pilgrims will be actualizing the works of mercy,” Caruso said.
One of the planned locations is Soledad State Prison in Monterey County, 3 miles north of Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad in the shadows of the Santa Lucia Mountains — a range with its largest peak named Junípero Serra Peak.
Caruso said the pilgrims will be visiting the prison to pray with inmates, hear their stories, and “God willing, bring them hope in our Merciful Savior, who brings grace to all according to their needs.”
Pilgrims will bring the Blessed Sacrament into the prison as well.
Pilgrims will also process with farm workers in the San Joaquin Valley and visit Harvest Home, a pregnancy center in Los Angeles. “Even just walking through communities and neighborhoods of California will be opportunities to bring the merciful gaze of Christ to others,” Caruso said.
This includes encountering those at food banks, trafficking victims, and survivors from this year’s Los Angeles wildfires.
“Jesus encourages us to be ‘salt and light’ and witnesses of ‘charity in truth.’ We will walk the way of peace and joy offering real hope to individuals, families, communities, and the entire Church,” Archbishop Gomez said in a statement about the new camino route.
A Eucharistic Congress at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula is also available for pilgrims. As pilgrimages continue to grow in popularity worldwide especially as a secular event, Caruso recalled Pope John Paul II’s reminder of the reality of the Eucharist, not merely as a community or confraternal event, Caruso said.
This is what Caruso hopes Camino de California demonstrates in its pilgrimage. “Even for one hour, like the invitation of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,” Caruso said.
There are about 150 Eucharistic pilgrims currently preparing for the full two-week journey, organizers said. Those interested can sign up for several different roles.
It should be noted, however, that the 2025 Camino de California is not a walking pilgrimage.
Eucharistic processions will range from 1 mile to 6 miles each day. Eucharistic pilgrims will be responsible for their own transportation, lodging and meals, according to the website.
“This is the love of Christ physically alive,” Caruso said, emphasizing the importance of such a pilgrimage in the wake of the Eucharistic Revival sweeping the Church.
Caruso added, with fervor in his voice, “The Eucharist is the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
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