On Mardi Gras this year Tara Quaadman, the gift shop manager for Gifts for All Seasons in Arlington, received a special delivery. It was a wooden box that held a rubber stamp with the inscription, The Cathedral of St. Thomas More, Catholic Pilgrimage Passport.
The stamp, made by Patrick Johnson, founder and owner of St. James Media in Washington, Mo., is designed for the Catholic Pilgrimage Passport. Johnson, an avid travel enthusiast, drew inspiration from the National Parks Passport. Pilgrims can fill its pages with more than 360 custom stamps at cathedrals, basilicas, national shrines and churches designated as World Heritage Sites across the U.S. The Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandra is the second site in the diocese of Arlington in the passport.
“I came up with the initial idea during a couple of road trips I took toward the end of COVID,” said Johnson. “Traveling can affect your world view in a positive way and can make you appreciate that people in general are good.”
Johnson tried to find something already on the market but only found a few diocesan passport booklets, nothing on a national scale. The more he searched, the more he felt called to make the passport a reality. In October 2023, he taught himself the Adobe Creative Suite and got to work. One of the first challenges was the stamps, which he intended to give to each pilgrimage site for free.
“The prices for custom stamps were astronomical,” said Johnson. “So, instead I bought a laser engraver and made them myself.” A video on the Catholic Pilgrimage Passport website shows the engraving process.
There is plenty of risk in a project like this, but where there is risk, there is also faith.
“Faith has always been a part of my life,” said Johnson. “When I was little, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. My mom got a job at the church, and I found myself spending a lot of time in the adoration chapel. I was also inspired by my grandfather who was a WWII vet, an entrepreneur and a wonderful human. He passed away on his way to morning Mass.”
The passport itself is made for traveling. It’s small enough to fit in a backpack or purse with pages for stamps and journaling. It divides the U.S. into 14 regions. Each region has a page that includes a map with numbers designating the locations. The corresponding page includes a list of pilgrimage sites. Pilgrims who use the passport during the jubilee year receive a sticker to mark the location they visit for a possible plenary indulgence.
One of Johnson’s favorite pilgrim sites is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
“I was in D.C. for work, and it happened that the Metro took me past the stop for the shrine. I made an effort to spend as much time as I could there,” said Johnson.
Johnson hopes to include diocesan shrines in future revisions, such as the Shrine of St. Joseph in Stirling, N.J., a designated jubilee year church and the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City. These diocesan shrines and others are listed on the National Association of Shrine and Pilgrimage Apostolate’s website at catholicshrines.org.
With the stamps delivered, Johnson plans to hit the road again on a pilgrimage of his own to get the word out and a few stamps in his book.
With this passport, I want the people to see the beauty of the church,” said Johnson. “It’s all about evangelization.”
The passport is available for $25.00 at catholicpilgrimagepassport.com and will also be sold at catholic bookstores and gift shops later this year.
Johnson said the new passports will have all the stamps in the books as a sticker packet in the back. Anyone who has already purchased a book will get their stickers sent to them. So, pilgrims will have the option of getting it stamped or adding a sticker.
Kassock is a freelancer in Fredericksburg.
