The Pilgrims of Hope and the Tree of Hope

contributed photo

Community contributed

By Paula Scott

Pope Francis has designated 2025 as a Jubilee Year of Hope for the Catholic Church, with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope.” This special year, officially inaugurated on Christmas Eve, 2024 will conclude Jan. 6, 2026.

The Jubilee Year of Hope 2025 is a time for Catholics to reflect on the meaning of hope, both for their own lives and for the world around them, and to strive to be instruments of hope in their communities. 

The “Tree of Hope Tour” is a national pilgrimage bringing the relics of St. Damien and St. Marianne, both of whom served heroically on Molokai to parishes across the country. The tour was put together by an Arkansas man, Mark Jerchura, whose life was changed by St. Damien eight years ago.

Since this past May, Mark Jechura has brought the relics of St. Damien and St. Marianne, as well as a piece of wood from a tree planted on topside Molokai by St. Damien, to sites across the mainland from Arkansas to Washington, D.C. and beyond, on what he has named the “Tree of Hope Tour,” which is in alignment with the “Pilgrims of Hope.”

The invitation is for all to become pilgrims of hope in a world that desperately needs it. Saints Damien and Marianne who served the most forgotten in Molokai embody that message. Mark Jechura has seen to it that their legacy deserved to be carried across the country, and that the tour is not about spectacle; but about planting hope in parishes large and small, one stop at a time.

During the “Tree of Hope” in 2025, the tour invites the faithful to venerate the relics, reflect on the lives of these saints, and entrust their personal prayers and intentions to a traveling book that accompanies the relics. These intentions have been collected from thousands across the mainland and will be returned to Molokai for prayer and thanksgiving, concluding the tour where the saints once walked and served.

As part of this homecoming, the relics will be making a special tour stop at St. Damien Parish Saturday, Aug. 2, following the 5 p.m. mass. There will be a potluck dinner following the veneration. All are welcome.

Many people here on Molokai know the story of our saints, but may not yet be aware of this pilgrimage or the spiritual journey that has accompanied it across the country. This final stop is intended to be a meaningful moment of return, healing, and shared hope.