Thousands expected during yearlong observance
The Archdiocese of New York has chosen Graymoor in Philipstown as one of eight pilgrimage sites for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope, which Pope Francis declared from Dec. 24, 2024, to Jan. 6, 2026.
Father Jim Gardiner, director of special projects at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, said that the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement are preparing packages for the groups and individuals expected to visit to renew their faith through services, prayer, retreats and events.
Visitation will be “at full tilt” when temperatures warm, and thousands of visitors are expected throughout the year, he said. The Archdiocese also named Graymoor a pilgrimage site for the last jubilee year, in 2000.
“When I was a kid in the Bronx, my parish had a bus ride here,” said Gardiner. “We had Mass, we had lunch, we walked around the grounds and we talked to people, and I credit that as being the impetus for my vocation.”
