With the 2025-2026 school year well underway, Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board (NPSC) students and staff have begun exploring their faith outside the classroom through pilgrimages that are bringing our Year of Faith to life.
If you were driving along Memorial Drive in North Bay on October 6, or through the central part of Sturgeon Falls on October 28, you would have witnessed NPSC students and staff journeying with a large cross at the front of their procession. They were each participating in the Pilgrimage of the Cross — one of the many innovative ways our Board is celebrating our Year of Faith across our schools.
As the crowds walked through the cities, they prayed the Stations of the Cross along the way. Groups of students took turns carrying NPSC’s Year of Faith icon: an eight-foot cross built by Construction Technology students at St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Catholic Secondary School with the help of teacher Mr. Adolfo Crea.
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The North Bay pilgrimage that took place in early October was led by Board Chaplain Father Joseph de Viveiros, C.R., and was composed of students and staff from both secondary and elementary schools across the board. The journey stretched from the Pro-Cathedral of the Assumption on McIntyre Street West all the way to Holy Name of Jesus Church at the end of Memorial Drive.
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Just a few weeks later, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Elementary School participated in its own pilgrimage, which saw over 100 students and staff walk alongside local priest Father Tensingh. As the group journeyed together, they stopped at the old Our Lady of Sorrows school site on King Street and Our Lady of Sorrows Church, engaging in special moments of reflection.
The idea for the Pilgrimage of the Cross was put forth by NSPC Board Chaplain Father Joseph de Viveiros, C.R., as a hands-on complement to the Catholic faith formation that takes place within our schools. |
“I have had the privilege of making the Way of the Cross in Jerusalem with a large cross, and I was deeply moved by that experience,” explained Father Joseph. “It was a natural leap to want our students and staff to engage in a similar journey that gives them greater insight into what Jesus would have experienced.”
He went on to explain the experience’s connection to students’ resilience, noting, “In our day and age, it is so easy to quickly want to abandon the crosses we must each carry. The Pilgrimage of the Cross was meant to help our students learn perseverance and the importance of helping each other carry their respective crosses.”
Following the pilgrimages, students reflected on how Jesus may have felt carrying his own cross. Although the Year of Faith cross was carried by groups of four to five students at a time, many learners expressed feeling some level of physical discomfort along the journey. This experience deepened their appreciation for Jesus’ strength and faith, as they recognized that He carried a much heavier cross, alone.
As a Catholic education community, we are reminded that, much like our students and staff, who pilgrimaged as a collective, we are not alone. Not only do we have each other, but we have God — His grace, love, and grounding presence. May this shared experience inspire us to carry our faith forward with courage, compassion, and gratitude.
