Four Young Dunkeld Pilgrims Join Jubilee in Rome

As part of the wider 2025 Jubilee events for “Pilgrims of Hope”, the Jubilee of Youth took place from 28th July to 3rd August.

Four young Dunkeld pilgrims – siblings Charis Soares (25), Arianne (22), Alisha (21) and Shane McCrosson (19) – travelled from Cupar, Dundee and Auchterarder to join over 1 million Catholic young people from more than 146 countries, gathering in Rome to celebrate this event.

Back left-right: Alisha, Arianne, Shane. Front: Charis.

They were able to partake in a variety of events, including walking through each of the 4 Holy Doors (at St John Lateran’s, St Paul Outside the Walls’, St Mary Major’s and St Peter’s Papal Basilicas), attending open-air confessions in the Circus Maximus, where 200 confessionals served thousands of pilgrims over a single day, and trekking out to join Pope Leo XIV in overnight vigil in the grounds of the University of Rome at Tor Vergata – a gathering that was reminiscent of the year 2000, when Pope John Paul II welcomed thousands of young people to the same place for the 15th World Youth Day.

Before inviting the youth to join him in adoration of the Eucharist, Pope Leo addressed the crowd and answered some questions from young people around the world, covering the important themes of Friendship, the Courage to Choose, and the Call to Do Good. These themes continued in his Homily at Mass on his return to Tor Vergata the following morning, where he urged young people to “aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are”.

Pilgrim Feedback

“I have been to a few World Youth Days and similar events – the atmosphere of the young people gathered together is always electric! I loved that so many had made the effort to pilgrimage out for confessions on the Friday, and it was a wonderful opportunity to have, and to share with so many. I also loved the Vigil, and thought that Pope Leo’s words were very relevant to our reality back home. My favourite moment was the beautiful time of adoration – we had about a million young people in that field, with food and instruments, camping equipment and ants all over the ground – but when Pope Leo knelt to adore the Eucharist, the whole place fell silent, and we knelt together to join him. It was truly incredible!”
Charis Soares

“I enjoyed the sense of community that was in Rome, being surrounded by so many young Catholics of a similar age to me from all around the world. I particularly felt this at Tor Vergata, where we all gathered for Mass with Pope Leo. Wandering around the field and meeting so many people from so many countries was incredible and it really helped me feel less alone in my faith as it reminded me that there are other young Catholics out there – maybe not so easy to find back home, but they’re out there!”
Arianne McCrosson

“It was really nice being in this huge community of like-minded people, who were all just so kind, helpful, joyful and faith-filled, and having the chance to really see the faith in action. It was actually quite emotional for me, and especially when we visited the Basilicas, particularly St Peter’s and St Paul’s – I just felt very overwhelmed and awestruck to be able to experience how beautiful our faith can be, in such a physical way. I found especially in St Paul’s, where they have all the different popes through history painted along the top border of the walls, it felt like we were really connected all the way back to the roots of our faith. Then you obviously have the big field full of people, and the thing that struck me most was at the Mass on Sunday morning, when the priests were a bit slow to come out with the Eucharist at communion, and we could just see hundreds of young people abandoning their things and trekking down to the front of the field, all desperate to receive the Body of Christ. Just seeing the desire for Him in so many was truly incredible! I also loved how Pope Leo was able to address us in multiple languages, and especially hearing him speak in English – it just hit differently, and I honestly felt like one of the people in the crowd after Pentecost, when the disciples spoke in tongues so that everyone could understand them!”
Alisha McCrosson