Pilgrimage History
In the inaugural year of Saint Paul Catholic High School our annual Pilgrimage event was established and has been our most important community initiative ever since. Every year since 1982 in the month of October our Pilgrimage has taken place. Pilgrimage is a time to learn about the needs and struggles of our brothers and sisters in the Global South, and in the case of Saint Paul Catholic High School to learn about the circumstances facing our Haitian brothers and sisters in Milot, Haiti.
Saint Paul Catholic High School was founded by the Congregation of the Holy Cross, a religious community with a focus in Catholic Education. Through their religious community a relationship was established between the School of Holy Cross in Haiti, which is run by the Holy Cross Sisters and our school community here at Saint Paul. Over the years this relationship has grown to the point that we refer to each other as Sister Schools, seeking to live in solidarity with one another, especially through the efforts of our annual Pilgrimage campaign.
Every October during our Pilgrimage students are informed of the social, political, and financial challenges facing our friends in Haiti. During this time we seek to grow in our understanding of the Social Teachings of our Catholic faith. Leadership groups at Saint Paul take up the task of informing our current students of the needs of our Haitian brothers and sisters, ways we can live in solidarity with them, and ways we can also offer financial help to support our sister school located in Milot, Haiti.
Our Pilgrimage concludes each year on the last Sunday of October, where we gather as a community to celebrate Mass, and then walk 10 kilometers throughout Niagara Falls on our Pilgrimage. We seek to grow in our understanding of the social teachings of our faith, express our solidarity with our Haitian friends in Milot, pray together, and walk in our community to express that our faith calls us to serve others.