By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer

ATLANTA—During the Jubilee Year 2000, 20 churches in the Archdiocese of Atlanta have been designated as pilgrimage churches, places where visitors are encouraged to come and pray and seek the special graces of this Holy Year, including the Jubilee indulgence.

The theme of a pilgrimage is central to the Jubilee Year, which began historically with pilgrims journeying to the city of Rome, seeking to rekindle the flame of faith in their lives through sacrifice, prayer and reconciliation with the church. Often the journey was made by walking great distances to a pilgrimage church and enduring great hardships.

This Jubilee Year, which began at Christmas 1999, will end before the feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 7, 2001. One of the special privileges of the Jubilee Year is that Catholics have the opportunity, by making a spiritual pilgrimage to a designated church, to receive a plenary indulgence for themselves or for any soul in purgatory. In Catholic belief, when sin is forgiven, we may still merit punishment after death because of the consequences of our sin. Through the indulgence, that punishment may be remitted.

As part of the spirituality of forgiveness and reconciliation of this Jubilee Year, the church extends this opportunity to people everywhere, as local bishops designate local pilgrimage sites to unfurl the banner of mercy widely.

In accordance with the pope’s directives for the Jubilee Year, Archbishop John F. Donoghue has extended to those who visit one of the 20 pilgrimage churches of the archdiocese the opportunity to receive the plenary indulgence under specified conditions.

The conditions are to visit one or more of the pilgrimage churches for prayer, which could be Mass or another liturgical celebration; private prayer such as the rosary or Stations of the Cross; or eucharistic meditation, ending with the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed. If one does not receive sacraments at the time of the visit, take part in the sacrament of reconciliation and receive the Eucharist within a short time of visiting the pilgrimage site and while there offer prayers for the intentions of Pope John Paul II. Pilgrimages may be made alone or with others and as frequently as daily.

Within each geographic section of the archdiocese, several churches are pilgrimage sites. They are:

In Northwest metro: the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, and the Church of St. Ann, Marietta;

In Northeast metro: St. Pius X Church, Conyers, St. Marguerite D’Youville Church, Lawrenceville, and St. Matthew Church, Winder.

In South metro: the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Atlanta, St. Gabriel Church, Fayetteville, and Our Lady of Viet Nam Church, Riverdale.

In the Northwest: Our Lady of LaSalette Church, Canton, the Church of St. Joseph, Dalton, and St. Mary Church, Rome.

In the Northeast: St. Joseph Church, Athens, St. Augustine Church, Covington, St. Michael Church, Gainesville, and Sacred Heart Church, Hartwell.

In the South: St. George Church, Newnan, and St. John the Baptist Mission, Thomaston.

Additional pilgrimage sites are the chapel of Pinecrest Academy in Cumming, the Monastery of the Visitation in Snellville and the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers.