Dear Dames, Knights, Chaplains, and Provisionals:

On behalf of the leadership of the Order of Malta, Western Association, it is my pleasure to kick off preparations for the 2026 Lourdes Pilgrimage.

The dates for next year’s Pilgrimage are Tuesday, April 28^th through Wednesday, May 6^th.

2026 Lourdes Pilgrimage Flyer

2026 Lourdes Pilgrimage Leadership

Our 2026 Leadership Team is confident that we will be able once again to organize a highly successful Pilgrimage, one that is both safe and healthy.  Our 2025 effort was our largest ever, and one that we believe worked for us both spiritually and organizationally.

Yet we can continue to improve certain aspects of our Pilgrimage effort, and we appreciate the suggestions that we have received.    Each year we learn from, and enhance, the procedures, strategies and protocols that have worked in the past.

In particular, interest in our Pilgrimage has grown significantly in recent years, and that growth has on occasion led to disappointment when we were unable to include all of our proposed registrants as Pilgrims.     As a result, President John Sylvia and I established a Committee of former Pilgrimage leaders and certain others to make recommendations as to how to improve our registration processes.    We discuss those recommendations below.

But before turning to the details of our 2026 effort, we thought that you might appreciate viewing a recent 60 Minutes piece on Lourdes, an update of its earlier one.      The new presentation is a good reminder of why we go to Lourdes, and why our annual Pilgrimage is so valuable for both our malades and our “Working Pilgrims.”   (And with thanks to Kevin Ryan for drawing our attention to this broadcast.)

France's Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes: Where 72 medical miracles have been recognized by church officials

Travel

Notwithstanding today’s continuing inflationary pressures, we are proposing to maintain the base price of the 2026 Lourdes Pilgrimage at $3800 for the Air and Land Program, which includes charter air service for the nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Lourdes and back.    That base price has not been altered for years, and reflects both our cost control efforts and the Annual Appeal and other forms of support that our Members have provided.    The price for the Land Only Program will also remain unchanged, at $2900.

Once again in 2026 we will have access to an Air Tahiti Nui Dreamliner, a state-of-the-art aircraft that offers the latest in amenities and safety features.    Our ATN flight should offer our Pilgrims a healthy, safe and comfortable travel experience.   There will also, as before, be upgrade opportunities from Economy Class to Business and Premium Classes.

2026 Lourdes Flight Upgrade Flyer

Registration Dates

Early Registration will begin on Monday, October 27, 2025.      Leadership, Provisional Members and Medical Team Members will be sent the application link prior to the opening of General Registration.    The General Registration link will in turn be made available to all other Members on November 1, 2025.  (We ask those of you who receive the early link not to forward it to others prior to the General Registration date; we check the eligibility of each proposed early registrant carefully and would prefer not to create more communications work for our Pilgrimage coordination team.)

Revisions in the Registration Process

Our 2025 reforms worked well, and we will maintain them in large measure.  Specifically, we will keep open the General Registration process for a full business week, until the close of business on Friday, November 7, 2025.    We wanted to eliminate the pressure of a “rush to the computer,” and we think that opening this registration window helps to achieve that aim.

Our most significant dilemma that arose during the 2025 registration process might well be described as one of the proverbial “high-class problems.”    Using rounded numbers and excluding Malades and Caregivers, we had almost 500 prospective Pilgrims seeking to register for around 300 available places.    This enhanced demand is a result of the passing of the COVID complications, the increasing size of our general Membership and our Provisional classes, and strong interest on the part of our Auxiliary Membership and Volunteer group.    And to be clear, we have already enlarged the size of our Pilgrimage from around 340 in 2015 to 400 last year; as many of you know, we now occupy every room in Eliseo, and have booked 50 rooms in nearby hotels for our use.    We have looked carefully at the possibility of further expansion of the Pilgrimage group, and we really do think that we are pretty much at our venue, travel and accommodation capacity at 400.

The prioritization process we have adopted the past two years – putting Dames and Knights, Provisionals, Chaplains and certain Medical Team members at the head of the queue – worked as intended, but it effectively put our Auxiliaries and Volunteer candidates at the end of the line, causing disappointment and concerns about the fairness of our procedures.     In response, as noted above, John and I established a Committee of our Members with great familiarity with the Pilgrimage to study the situation and to make recommendations to the Board and Pilgrimage Leadership.   This Committee included four former Pilgrimage Directors – Jeanne O’Brien, Jill Ortiz, Ken Olsen and Mark Tiernan, and also included Tim Crudo, Anne Ryan, Mike Psomas and Dr. Rick Kozak (along with Michelle Navarro, John Sylvia and me on an ex officio basis).

The Committee studied the numbers, examined our past and present procedures, and looked at how the other two U.S. Associations handle these matters.    We all came up with the recommendations set forth below.    At the outset, let me stress that these proposed procedures will not satisfy everyone – we can’t squeeze 500 deserving candidates into 300 spots.  And if it turns out that the interest in the Pilgrimage is reduced this year, perhaps we’ll be able to accept all of those who register.    But, while the members of the Committee and of our Pilgrimage Leadership welcome your responsive comments, we ask you to bear in mind that there are no perfect answers here; we are all trying to fairly balance the interests of all of those who wish to join us in Lourdes (particularly our Malades), along with the interests of the Western Association in developing the Order in our Territory.   And as the Committee emphasized, we are a religious Order with a spiritual focus, and should not move too far in the direction of becoming a travel coordinator.

Revised Registration Procedures

1. Prioritization.    We will prioritize Members (including Auxiliary Members), Provisionals, Chaplains (though not necessarily other Volunteer clerics), Medical Team members and Leadership Team members.   But we will no longer automatically include Spouses of those individuals as automatically included Pilgrims.    We will try to include them, but they will be considered as part of the deliberative process described in Item 5 below.
2. Family Members.   The Committee went back and forth on what number of family members, including minors, should be included as Pilgrims under the current circumstances.    We understand that having small children with us can have a positive and stimulating effect on the Pilgrimage group; there is also a feeling, though, that family groupings can take away the Malade focus that is central to our efforts.   Accordingly, the Committee recommends following the policies of our fellow U.S.  Associations, discouraging the participation of more than one minor Volunteer per family (with Malade families excepted), and minors under age twelve generally heavily disfavored.
3. Spouses.   As noted above, Spouses who are not Dames or Knights will also be looked at, without prioritization, in our deliberations.   We will of course try to include them to the extent consistent with our other aims.   In particular, we hope that our Provisional Members will focus on immersing themselves in the Pilgrimage experience.
4. Other Restrictions and Issues.    We of course want our Pilgrimage group to have an acceptable geographic balance; that has worked out reasonably well in recent years.    But of late, we’ve had issues on occasion with our “Working Pilgrims” being unable to “push or pull” a 250-pound (or more) Malade up the hill by the St. Joseph’s Gate, for example.    And, on a few occasions, we’ve had Teams that were left short-handed by its working members needing to see to other commitments – medical, choir, or other Malta leadership responsibilities.    So we’re going to throw those matters into the deliberative hopper described below as well.
5. Our Deliberative Decision-making.   This is of course the hardest part.    What we propose to do is to ask the senior leaders of the Pilgrimage – John, Mike Psomas and me – to review the overall group of registrants in early November, and, applying the prioritizations and considerations noted above and getting personal input as needed from Region Leaders, to compile a preliminary registration list and, if the numbers require it, a Wait List.   We will apply the criteria outlined above, with special sympathy for our Members who have sought to get to Lourdes in the past, and been rejected.   And just to be clear, (a) all final decisions will be made by the Pilgrimage Director, subject only to review by our President, and (b) no one will be deemed formally accepted as a Pilgrim until specifically notified of that decision by the Pilgrimage Office.   If you wish to be considered as part of this initial deliberative process, you must submit your completed registration materials by the General Registration deadline date of November 7, 2025.   And again to be entirely clear, we will not ask anyone for any payment until they have been formally confirmed as a Pilgrim.
6. Summary.    We’re sorry to add a bit more bureaucracy to our work and uncertainty to the registration process, but, given the levels of interest we’ve had and our wish to be fair to all of our Members, to the Order, and especially to our Malades, we think that this is the right path to follow.

Registration Details

1.    Online registration form
2.    Full payment (once you have been confirmed as a Pilgrim)
3.    Recent personal photo
4.    Current VIRTUS (or acceptable equivalent) Certificate
5.    Current on your Yearly Contributions

Special Notes

Pilgrimage Cancellation and Refunds.   Although we are planning for, once again, a safe and healthy Pilgrimage journey, our Medical Team will continue to monitor closely applicable government regulations, and we will comply with them.   The Board of the Western Association has agreed that, in the unlikely event that the Pilgrimage must be cancelled in response to government health restrictions, previously-registered Pilgrims will receive a full refund, including the 3% fee referenced above, if paid.

One-Way Travel on the Charter.     We from time to time receive requests from our Working Pilgrims to travel one-way with us on our Charter flights.     Officially, we discourage such one-way trips; we like to have our Member Pilgrims on the plane, to help with our malades.    On occasion, though, we have granted exceptions to the “both ways” policy.   We tend to look favorably on those who travel to Lourdes early (or stay late) for additional charitable work, and upon requests by clerics who need, for example, to travel on to Rome for work-related reasons.    Particular extenuating family-related matters may also provide a basis for one-way travel.   Usually, though, the wish to facilitate additional vacation travel in Europe is not considered a strong basis for an exception.   And to be clear, it has always been our policy that, whether one travels one-way, or both ways, on the charters, the cost is the same – the full Air and Land cost.    It’s too difficult, from both a logistical and an accounting perspective, to sell one-way tickets on our flights.

Passports, Visas and the new ETIAS System.    We are also closely monitoring the passport and visa mandates for entry in 2026 into the EU.   This may indeed be the year that the new EU “ETIAS” process is implemented.    We should have plenty of time to comply with these requirements, but prompt action after acceptance may be needed.

Clergy Sponsoring Procedures

Most of you are aware of our policies with respect to the sponsorship of Members of the Clergy, but a few words of repetition may be in order.    With respect, first, to our current Chaplains of the Order, each of them will be invited to join us, at the expense of the Pilgrimage.  We invite you to reach out to Chaplains whom you know to encourage them to join us next year, but each of them will receive a registration link directly from the Office.

With respect to Provisional Chaplains and volunteer Members of the Clergy who might wish to join us, it’s a bit more complicated.    We do not generally cover their Pilgrimage costs, but we have over the years strongly encouraged Knights and Dames to help underwrite these expenses.  Please see the link below.

Finally, on the cancellation front, our current refund policy is that all Pilgrims seeking a refund – including sponsored Members of the Clergy – will need to provide written notice of their withdrawal by February 1, 2026 (as noted above).    If the sponsored Member of the Clergy withdraws before that deadline, payments theretofore made will be refunded to the sponsoring Knights and Dames. If the cancellation occurs after that date, the payments will be considered a donation to the Pilgrimage.

Clergy Sponsoring Procedure

Malade Nominations

We encourage you to help us identify prospective Malade candidates.   Once again this year Dame Gene Kates is, with our gratitude, leading the initial stages of our evaluation effort.   If you would like to nominate an individual for consideration as a Malade for 2026, please complete the online nomination form below.

But while first-rate Malade candidates are the reason for the existence of the Pilgrimage, we encourage you to focus on candidates who are reasonably well-known to either you or another Member.   Last year we had to reject over 50 candidates, and those communications can be extremely difficult for Gene and her team.    While all candidates are given personal consideration, those who are well-known to the sponsor have a greater likelihood of being selected.

2026 Malade Nomination - Online

2026 Malade Nomination Form - PDF

If you have any questions, please contact me at either the e-mail address, or the mobile number, listed below.   We look forward to another successful and spiritually meaningful Pilgrimage.

Confraternally,

Paul Tosetti
Director
Lourdes Pilgrimage 2026
Mobile:  +1.213.364.1100
E-Mail:   paul.tosetti@protonmail.com