Pilgrimage sparks unity

The mission was simple: accompany our newly installed Denver Archbishop James Golka as he received his pallium, a two-inch white band with black crosses worn on the shoulders.

The goal? Invite our archdiocesan community along for the ride through a regular stream of updates, reflections, photos and videos. Sounds straightforward, right?

I dusted off my passport, packed the camera bag and crammed onto the 10.5-hour flight from Denver to Rome. Unsure what was in store or what I'd write about in my daily updates, I said a quick prayer to the Holy Spirit and hoped for the best.

After all, we didn't want this to be just another content plan. Sure, we wanted to keep our people well-informed. We definitely wanted to encourage them to pray for our new archbishop. But we also wanted to invite them into something deeper: the one family of the church, alive and ablaze in Northern Colorado. Maybe it was less than straightforward after all. That's a tall order, to be sure.

Walking through the sweltering streets of the Eternal City, visiting the sites and saints with our 44-person group, that mission came alive in a powerful way. We were faithful men and women from different ages, states of life and experiences. We even came from several dioceses - Denver, Colorado Springs and Grand Island - and some from the Golka family. Yet, despite our differences, we were united in faith, hope and mission. We were honored to accompany our archbishop at this pivotal point in his ministry. In the One Christ, we became one.

I'm convinced that unity flowed from the group across the pond and into our archdiocesan family. Through our daily social media updates, our followers had a front-row seat to everything we were experiencing in Rome. Through our daily reflections, posted on the Denver Catholic website and emailed to subscribers, readers saw the pallium pilgrimage through my eyes and in my prayer. They got to see what we were doing each day through these media, but, more importantly, they were invited into the experience on a deeper level.

And it strikes me that therein lies the power of truly Catholic media. It's not simply writing about the church. It's not simply recounting the who, what, when, where and why of faith-based events; anyone can do that. Through authentically Catholic media, rooted in the Gospel and animated by the Holy Spirit, we bring the Good News to life today. We share Jesus' invitation to abundant life, to faith, hope and love, with our readers - whether they know him or not.

So, this Pallium Pilgrimage turned out to be a beautiful exercise in the unity to which Pope Leo XIV continues to call us: Catholic and non-Catholic, churchgoing and not. The thousands of followers along the Pallium Path were invited to get to know their new archbishop, pray for him and accompany him. They were as much part of the journey as we were on the ground in Rome. But, more than that, they were invited into Jesus' story for us today in Northern Colorado.

What a joy and a privilege to preach the Gospel through media, to invite others to come to know and love Jesus Christ. What an honor to do so beside our new archbishop and the Holy Father.

Escaleira is managing editor of the Denver Catholic and El Pueblo Católico. This article originally appeared in the August edition of The Catholic Journalist.