September 8, 2025 // Diocese

Follow Footsteps of St. Ignatius on Pilgrimage

Jill Boughton

Freelance Writer

Hiking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela nine years ago was life-changing for Tom Labuzienski. In response, he began teaching an annual fall course on the Camino at the Forever Learning Institute and coaching girls’ soccer at Saint Joseph High School, where he recently led an all-day retreat to help the girls claim their identity as daughters of God – whether they win or lose games. 

Eventually, he enrolled in the formation program to become a permanent deacon for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. Along with 17 others, Deacon Labuzienski was ordained to the sacred order of the diaconate in January of 2023. He is assigned to St. Joseph Parish in South Bend but spends several months each spring on pilgrimage in Europe.

This year, he walked the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) in Spain, often serving in his official capacity as a deacon, even distributing holy Communion at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, where all of the Camino’s pilgrimage routes converge. This past Pentecost (Sunday, June 8), he was in the city of Burgos, where he distributed Communion to 300 priests.

However, this year, Deacon Labuzienski was privileged to participate in a different pilgrimage organized by his alma mater, Loyola University in Chicago. During April and May, pilgrims prepared by reading St. Ignatius’ autobiography and other books about the Spanish saint and participating in a weekly online class.

“This was truly a prayerful pilgrimage, not a sightseeing tour,” Deacon Labuzienski told Today’s Catholic. “Instead of hotels, we stayed in convents and monasteries. We prayed together on the bus.”

Following in the footsteps of St. Ignatius for three weeks, these pilgrims from throughout the United States began in Bilbao, Spain, and visited many places significant to the saint, including: his birthplace, Azpeitia; Pamplona, where he was terribly wounded in battle by a cannonball that shattered his leg; and Loyola, where he spent a year recovering at a local castle. While recuperating in Loyola, Ignatius had nothing to read but the Bible and a book of the lives of the saints, which deeply affected him. 

From there, still limping, St. Ignatius walked to Saragossa, the site of the first-known apparition of Mary, believed by some to be the aunt of St. James, to whom she appeared on a pillar. (“Have you noticed how many Spanish women have the name Pilar? Saragossa is the reason,” Deacon Labuzienski said.)

Next, the pilgrims went to Montserrat, named for its jagged mountains. This is still a popular area for retreats, full of churches, monasteries, and exquisite paintings.

Deacon Labuzienski called Manresa, where Ignatius spent a year, the place of the saint’s deeper conversion. There, he began developing his spiritual exercises, including praying the examen every evening. The pilgrims barely fit into the cave where St. Ignatius prayed eight to 12 hours a day. They were able to attend Mass there as well.

At this point in his life, St. Ignatius felt the need for further education. He went to study in Paris, where he became a priest and began to gather his companions who helped him to found the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), including St. Francis Xavier, St. Peter Faber, and others. Paris was not part of this pilgrimage, but Deacon Labuzienski and his companions were able to spend more than a week in Rome, where he had studied as an undergrad. The group was able to walk on the streets where St. Ignatius walked, see where he lived and ministered, and spent time in the Church of the Gesù, the home of the worldwide Jesuit order. During St. Ignatius’ time in Rome, he secured the pope’s approval to found the Society of Jesus, now the largest religious order in the world.

Being in Rome during this Jubilee Year of Hope, Deacon Labuzienski and the other pilgrims were able to walk through the special Holy Doors at all four of Rome’s major basilicas – St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. John Lateran. It was especially moving to Deacon Labuzienski to visit St. Mary Major, where Pope Francis chose to be buried with only a small marker indicating his tomb.

On four occasions during their time in Rome, the pilgrims were able to see Pope Leo XIV during various public events. Following one such experience, Deacon Labuzienski helped to lead a Communion service and invited his fellow pilgrims to close their eyes and contrast the experience and excitement of seeing the pope with what it will be like to see the face of God forever in heaven.

During this prayer service, on one of the final days of the pilgrimage, Deacon Labuzienski said he had to cut off the sign of peace after 20 minutes. Every pilgrim wanted to make a personal connection with each of the others, as they had all grown so close during the pilgrimage experience they had shared.

Walking the Camino – and leading others on it – has become a passion for Deacon Labuzienski, who has made the journey more than 10 times since 2016. He credits St. James with his vocation to become a deacon.

“My life is all about the ideal of service and trying to inspire others,” he said.

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Saint Mary’s College Hosts Camino Conference

This past summer, from July 24-27, 135 American pilgrims who have walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela gathered at Saint Mary’s College in South Bend to listen to inspiring talks, share practical tips, go on guided walks, and swap stories of their travels during a conference of the group Americans on the Camino – an organization of enthusiasts of the Way of St. James. The only previous conference was held in 2021, with limitations imposed by COVID-19. 

Deacon Tom Labuzienski, a permanent deacon assigned to St. Joseph Parish in South Bend, who organized the event, invited other Camino experts – Joe Curro, Jeff Jarnecke, Kathy Kehe, and Annie O’Neill – to be part of the “celebration team.” They assembled authors, filmmakers, and other experts to address topics ranging from foot care to “Unwrapping the Gifts that Empower Us to Live a Camino Life.”

Several breakout sessions were devoted to two-minute sharing sessions, including one where a pilgrim shared about the impact of putting an Alcoholics Anonymous patch on his backpack. Another found it a perfect preparation for retirement, moving from living life in one-hour increments to a whole different sense of time, swapping his watch for a bracelet. One who anticipated an individual opportunity to grow in her trust in the Lord discovered that trust developed as she needed to rely on others. Several gave examples of “synchronicity” – someone or something being exactly what they needed and where and when they needed it. Others told humorous anecdotes such as trying to register at a hotel along the Camino that turned out to be a brothel.

Every person who filled out a survey after the conference agreed that Saint Mary’s College was an ideal setting. They loved the conference theme, “Journeys of the Heart.” They appreciated the guided hikes, service opportunities, and Spanish-themed feast in the college’s dining hall. A highlight for all was Mass in Notre Dame’s Sacred Heart Basilica on the feast of St. James, July 25.
– Jill Boughton