A call for peace will be at the core of this year’s Walk with Mary pilgrimage through the streets of Washington in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, on Saturday, Dec. 9.

The pilgrimage will begin at 11 a.m. that day at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, 16th Street and Park Road, N.W., and will conclude at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, at 4th Street and Michigan Avenue, N.E., where the rosary will be prayed at 1 p.m. Then Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory will celebrate Mass at the basilica at 2 p.m. The concelebrants will include Washington Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjívar.

This year’s celebration has a special meaning since the congregation is called to pray to the Virgin Mary to intercede in the resolution of war in the Middle East and Ukraine.

“We are all called to be peacemakers in our homes, workplaces, and communities,” Bishop Menjívar told the Catholic Standard. “Each one, to the extent that they live together, share and work in harmony and respect with people of diverse cultures, creeds and races, is contributing to building a more pacifist and just world. Especially as Christians, we are called to live this way to deserve to be called children of God.” 

Bishop Menjívar added that Pope Francis called on people to “think and pray for the peoples who suffer from war, that we do not forget the tormented Ukraine and think of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples: may the Lord bring us a just peace because war is always a defeat.”

The annual event typically draws thousands of lay people, priests, religious, deacons and seminarians. Participants, who come beyond The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, include Catholics of many cultures and races to ask the Virgin Mary to intercede for the well-being of immigrant families.

The procession features participants carrying banners and bouquets of flowers and waving flags from their native countries as they escort a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe along the three-mile route, singing songs in honor of the Queen of the Americas and St. Juan Diego.

Walk with Mary is sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach.

For more information, visit adw.org/walkwithmary or call 301-863-5335 or email culturaldiversity@adw.org.