The annual pilgrimage of the sick to the Marian Shrine of Cacica is resuming in Romania after years of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organized by the Diocese of Iași in cooperation with Caritas Iași and the Franciscan Friars Minor Conventual who run the Shrine, the pilgrimage will take place on 13 May to mark the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. The highlight of the day will be the Mass celebrated by Mgr Iosif Păuleț, Bishop of Iași. It will be followed by the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and blessing of the sick. Not only the sick but also their carers are invited to the pilgrimage. “By their presence and mission, doctors, nurses, auxiliary health workers, and volunteers are called to be living and active instruments of God’s action towards the suffering and the sick”, Fr Mihai Galaţanu, Head of the Office for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers in the Diocese of Iași, said in a message. The Church of Cacica, located in the borough of Suceava, in the country’s north, became a national shrine in 1997 and was declared a minor basilica by John Paul II in 2000. The Shrine contains an ancient replica of the icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa which was brought to Romania in the early 19th century and is venerated and considered miraculous by Romanian Catholics. The pilgrimage takes place without pandemic restrictions, given the low infection rate.