The Albacete Forum is planning a Pilgrimage to San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 7-10, 2024, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Msgr. Albacete’s passing. We talked with Albacete Forum board member Mary Beth Newkumet to find out more.

What’s the mission of the Albacete Forum?

The mission of the Forum is to introduce people to Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete through his writings, events, videos, remembrances, and the witness of his friends.

I met him through John, the father of my daughter’s classmate at our parish school. Lorenzo had been a priest at our Maryland parish during the late 1970’s, and he and John not only became good friends but also started a non-profit educational company together. I was so struck by their friendship and work that I came aboard in 1995. Early on, Lorenzo encouraged John and me to attend School of Community in order to stay close to him while he was living in New York. When we read The Religious Sense together, I was so moved by the description of the educational method Msgr. Giussani was describing. Yes, I thought, this is what has happened to me through Lorenzo; the encounter with Christ has happened through my encounter with this man. My friendships now within the Albacete Forum board continue to confirm that experience.

We are approaching the 10th anniversary of Msgr. Albacete’s death this Fall. How have you personally maintained a relationship with him these past 10 years?

I was very privileged to attend Msgr.'s Funeral Mass in New York City in October 2014, and I keep the card with his picture in my Magnificat with the prayer cards of my father, my little brother, and deceased friends who are dear to me. And I am very intentional every morning about my conversation with Lorenzo , asking for his intercession for my concerns and desires, help for my family, children and grandchildren, and also for the work that we do. In my experience, he is very much alive! My work with the Forum continues my relationship with him “in the flesh”, as he used to say. I also love introducing him to new people by reading his books and writings together in small groups.

Why does the Forum want to mark the 10th anniversary not with a lecture series or event, but a pilgrimage?

The gift of Lorenzo – the gift the Albacete Forum continues to propose – is here is a man to whom the Incarnation has happened. For us, he is a unique and significant gift to culture and the Church. So we want to go together on a pilgrimage to see the significant places of his life that were formative to his heart and personality. Sometimes people understand almost a caricature of Lorenzo. Lorenzo on the stage. It is our hope that the pilgrimage can give us more context about his life, a sense of the people and places he encountered and experienced growing up, in a way to give more “flesh” to the man that we knew and loved.

Can you talk a bit about Puerto Rico, the culture and why it’s so important to who Monsignor was?

One of the great blessings of my own life is my extended family in Puerto Rico, so meeting Lorenzo brought so many things full circle. My background is New York City Irish Catholic, and in the 1960’s, my Dad's youngest brother married Irma from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. When I was 13, I flew down to visit my aunt and uncle and my seven little cousins in Puerto Rico for the first time, and that experience changed my life. My aunt has this big extended family. Everybody lived nearby so on a Tuesday night, you'd just go over and have dinner at grandma's house, and this cousin would wander in and this aunt and uncle…and just this gorgeous communal life. Lots of humor and laughter. A deep faith. And I remember at 13 wanting that for myself, and just soaking up the beauty of Puerto Rican culture. Years later when I met this Puerto Rican priest and heard about the way he continued to take care of his mother and brother, even in the midst of some great suffering, I recognized the similar way my own family in Puerto Rico attempts to take care of each other. In a certain sense, Lorenzo treated everyone like a family member. He made fun of me, but he loved me, and he was willing to take me on and teach me. He was always deeply human, communal, and familial.

What can people expect on the pilgrimage?

We will arrive Thursday evening and will be staying in the popular Condado area, blocks away from the ocean. On Friday, we will have an Old San Juan tour led by Forum board member and Puerto Rican native Camil Martinez, and we will eat some of the wonderful cuisine of Puerto Rico, some lechón, chicharrón, mofongo, and yes, even some fried chicken. On Saturday, we plan to visit Msgr.’s grave, his childhood home, parish, school and other favorite places, and then have Mass together at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. We will also have evening walks to the beach, music, and singing. On Sunday, we’ll have a Puerto Rican farewell lunch before heading home.

What is your goal for the pilgrimage?

Our Albacete Forum President, Stephen Sanchez, always says that Lorenzo has – not had – an incredible gift for friendship. The pilgrimage will be a moment for people who were struck by him to become better friends with each other, and also an opportunity for us to welcome new people into this friendship with him. We believe that his great desire for more friends continues on now in a superabundant way. And we want to try to help him do that!

For Pilgrimage information and to register, email Mary Szymkowiak at reservepilgrimage@gmail.com. The deadline to register is September 7, 2024.