Catholics will begin a 10-day Eucharistic pilgrimage on May 29 along California’s historic El Camino Real, commemorating the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.
The Camino de California Eucharistic Pilgrimage will run through June 7, beginning in Sonoma and concluding in San Diego after visiting all 21 historic California missions along the route, according to the pilgrimage’s website.
Organizers describe the event as a driving pilgrimage featuring daily Eucharistic processions ranging from about one to six miles. The pilgrimage will also include daily Works of Mercy, and pilgrims are welcome to join for portions of the journey.
The route follows El Camino Real, Spanish for “The Royal Road,” the 600-mile corridor connecting California’s Spanish missions along the coast. Founded in the late 18th and early 19th centuries by Franciscan missionaries, including St. Junípero Serra, the missions served as centers of Catholic evangelization, agriculture, education, and settlement along the California coast.
According to a press release emailed to Zeale News, the pilgrimage coincides with the worldwide Jubilee Year proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV to mark the 800th anniversary of the Transitus of St. Francis, his passage from earthly to eternal life. The Jubilee Year runs from Jan. 10, 2026, to Jan. 10, 2027.
Participants who visit Franciscan churches or worship sites dedicated to St. Francis during the Jubilee Year may obtain a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, according to the release. In the Archdiocese of San Francisco, eligible locations include the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, Mission Dolores Church, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in East Palo Alto, Mission San Rafael, and the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, which is the archdiocese’s mother church.