Jubilee of hope, at Sacred Heart Parish in Comanche

Bishop Michael Olson designated Sacred Heart Parish in Comanche a Jubilee pilgrimage site. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

COMANCHE — Some arrive in groups of 200, others come by themselves, and Sacred Heart Parish in Comanche welcomes them all.

Since Bishop Michael Olson designated the parish a pilgrimage site for Jubilee Year 2025, many groups have visited, explained Sacred Heart’s Director of Religious Education Martina Sierra.

Large pilgrimages often begin with a Rosary walk around the grounds of the church, followed by time for confession and Eucharistic Adoration. A Mass and a meal, provided by Sacred Heart parishioners, conclude the pilgrimage.

To accommodate individual pilgrims, the parish has arranged for the church to be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Father Matthew Sanka, pastor, has added a weekly Wednesday morning Mass during the Jubilee Year.  

Sierra said having pilgrims from other parishes visit "brings the diocese together. It's been a big blessing to the parish. There are no words to express the feeling of being a jubilee church."

She added that Sacred Heart parishioners have worked closely together to provide pilgrim meals and make certain at least one person is in the church while it is open.

In addition to Sacred Heart, Bishop Olson decreed four other pilgrimage sites in the Diocese of Fort Worth: 

• St. Patrick Cathedral in Fort Worth
• Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish in Wichita Falls 
• St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Flower Mound
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Fort Worth

The Jubilee Year closes Dececember 28, 2025.