‘Journey to Redemption,’ a Youth Pilgrimage Toward the Jubilee of 2033

In 2033, the Great Jubilee of Redemption will be celebrated. The Church is working on the ‘Journey to Redemption’ (J2R2033) initiative, which proposes a journey to accompany and revitalize young people on this path with three milestones: Rome (2025), Santiago (2027), and Jerusalem (2033). The initiative was presented on September 7 in Palencia at a press conference.

Along with Bishop Garciandía, the following spoke at the presentation: Fernando Moscardó, vice president of the J2R Foundation; Mónica Marín, a member of the foundation’s Mission Committee; and Pedro Brouilhet, the episcopal vicar for the Proclamation of the Word and head of the diocese’s Youth Ministry Department.

A nine-year journey toward 2033

J2R2033 is not an isolated event, but a nine-year journey that seeks to transform what is called the “wounded generation” into the “generation of redemption,” and which can be summed up as “pilgrimage, evangelization, and healing.” The itinerary also includes an intermediate stage in 2030, centered on the figure of St. Augustine, to mark the 1,600th anniversary of his death.

The project has already completed its first phase. Following a series of local pilgrimages throughout Europe in June 2025, a group of young people from fourteen countries proclaimed the Manifesto of the Young Christians of Europe on August 1 of that year at the Roman basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. The document has already gathered more than 250,000 signatures, including that of Leo XIV himself, who wished to personally join the initiative. 

An initiative that is already gaining support

‘Journey to Redemption’ began to take shape more than two years ago around the Network of San Miguel Shrines in Europe, of which Monsignor Garciandía was rector at the shrine in Navarre, and has gradually gained support from the Episcopal Subcommittee for Youth and Children of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, and the Church in Jerusalem, where the journey will conclude. The Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has assured us that young people in the Holy Land also want to be part of the project.

The next goal will be the Holy Year of Santiago in 2027, which Bishop Garciandía envisions as a mobilization of young people along pilgrimage routes throughout Europe, without the need to physically gather in Santiago.