Cardinal Timothy Dolan, of the Archdiocese of New York, is touting a Catholic Pilgrimage as a life-changing event that alters a person’s perspective on their understanding of the Bible.

“Once you visit the Holy Land, you never hear the Gospels the same way,” he tweeted Feb. 12, after his recent return from such a trek. “Today in my homily, I reflect on Jesus's Sermon on the Mount.” 

A "pilgrimage" is defined as something that includes a variety of actions of faith, such as going on a prayer journey, accompanying the impoverished, oppressed and refugees through difficult times, and visiting holy locations. A pilgrimage to the Holy Land has special meaning for Christians as a time of spiritual journey and recommitment to live a Christian life, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Many American Catholics believe that visiting the Holy Land is a particularly meaningful way to connect with Jesus' birthplace, preaching, healing, suffering, death and resurrection. 

The U.S. bishops, in collaboration with the Holy See and the Church in the Holy Land, wish to create an authentic pilgrimage experience for Catholics visiting the Holy Land. The Catholic Pilgrimage offers a chance to investigate the spiritual foundations of the Holy Land, including how geography, history, and culture have influenced people's perceptions of it and their theological beliefs, according to Holy Land Trust. 

For centuries, Christians have been making pilgrimages to the Holy Land, visiting well-known sites such as the Basilica of the Annunciation and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Despite this longstanding familiarity with the place where Christ lived and served on earth, new Christian pilgrimage sites are still being discovered in Israel, with the aim of eventually opening them to the public, according to the National Catholic Register. 

Archaeologists in Jerusalem are excavating an ancient path thought to have been walked by Christ. The National Catholic Register said the route was created during the Roman administration of Jerusalem and goes from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. Before traveling to the Temple to offer sacrifice, Jews would have entered the city around the pool to purify themselves. Small businesses dotted the area, most likely selling animals for sacrifice. 

Although parts of the Pool of Siloam, built by King Hezekiah in 2700 B.C. and found in June 2004, have been excavated, the pilgrims' road up to the Temple Mount is fully underground. A section of the road near the start is now open to tourists, although excavations are still ongoing. About 165 feet of the more than 2,500-foot-long roadway remain undiscovered, and the process is slow and costly.

Archaeologists expect excavation to continue for at least another year, but the hope is that pilgrims will soon be able to walk the entire distance from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount, just as Jews did 2,000 years ago.