By Katie Vasquez
A group of six young people from Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation parish in Williamsburg are eager to head to Rome this summer, where they will take part in the 2025 Jubilee of Young People in July.
“We get to meet a lot of people our age from all over the world, not just in New York. And we get to hear about different perspectives and different stories of people’s lives, and maybe we can all connect to them,” Angelique Alonso, a member of the youth ministry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation, tells Currents News.
During a recent youth ministry meeting, they each wrote a note of gratitude to the many donors who have been making their future pilgrimage possible.
The church has been fundraising since last July, and had collected about $50,000 dollars through their efforts and events like a radio bingo fundraiser in late February.
“We had a great night. I think we’re going to be short $10 or $12,000,” is what Deacon Michael Chirichella, the director of the youth ministry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish, anticipated at the time of the fundraiser.
That’s when parishioner John Bardi stepped in.
“I said, ‘How much?’ and he told me, and I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll give you the check this week.'” the parishioner tells Currents News.
The church has always been the center of John’s life, and he knew this experience would be empowering.
“I could have covered the entire cost of the trip, but I wanted them to believe in this and put their time and effort in,” he explains.
Two brothers in the youth ministry, Ariel and Leonardo Mantilla, say that without John’s support this pilgrimage wouldn’t be possible.
“I told my parents that if we didn’t have enough money or had enough only to send my brother, I would let him go instead of me,” Leonard says.
“They’re very hard working parents, I would say, but I don’t think they would be able to pay for two people,” adds Ariel.
But Bardi says he isn’t looking for a thank you for his $12,000 donation.
” It’s about what this means, and what this means to these young adults in the parish that really want to experience this and experience Rome and go on this journey of faith,” he tells Currents News. “And, it’s exciting… looking forward to hearing how they feel afterwards.”
Now, these young people are focused on being pilgrims of hope.