BUTTE — More than 100 parishioners from St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Butte recently returned from a "Pilgrimage of Peace" to Paris, France.
For the priest guiding the way, Father Patrick Beretta, it was an opportunity to show off his hometown. The journey was inspired by Beretta’s homily on the restoration of Notre Dame, the iconic cathedral that was ravaged by fire in 2019.
"I spoke about this epic of rebuilding it, restoring it, and some miraculous developments that took place in the restoration of the cathedral," Beretta said.
Joel and Kaila Patton were among the parishioners who made the trip.
WATCH: Members of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Butte traveled to Paris for a Pilgrimage of Peace
"It made me feel like we’re just all connected together," Joel Patton said. "It really showed how universal the Catholic faith is...and that we could be in Notre Dame or, you know, in any of the other churches there, and you can really see how it's universal."
Along with visits to historic sites, parishioners also got to see the very neighborhood where Beretta grew up with his siblings and Irish and Italian parents.
"My parents met right in the middle between Ireland and Italy, and they had a family in the city of love, which is a great place to have a family," Beretta said.
Paris offered quiet solo trips to cafes for the adventurous newlyweds who married last fall. I asked the couple if taking a vacation with 100 other Butte residents to Paris felt like their honeymoon.
"It was like our honeymoon, yep," Joel and Kaila Patton said.
Paris is also where Beretta was inspired to enter the priesthood. During the Pilgrimage of Peace, he led Mass in several historic churches, including his childhood church. Despite most of the services being held in French, Kara Remsen said the Butte group was still able to participate.
"We were able to know what was going on even though we don’t speak the language...they kneeled at the same time," Remsen said. "They had kind of the same tunes to the songs. It was really special to know that we were still involved even though we were overseas."
Remsen made the journey with her mother. During the trip, a public spat between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV made headlines all over the world. While many in the group were not following the news, Remsen said the exchange made her sad.
"It makes you sad that there was the animosity, and I just hope that for our country they can make peace," Remsen said.
Beretta was also following the exchange. He points out that he is a shepherd of a church that holds a wide variety of political beliefs, but makes note that the outspoken Pope is just following in the footsteps of a long line of Popes who have advocated for peace.
"Popes historically for a very, very long time have been very outspoken in the defense of peace, in the promotion of peace and of justice," Beretta said. "There was nothing unusual about what Pope Leo said, and so I thought that the reaction that he received was very unfortunate, and it saddened me, to be honest with you, it saddened me."
The group said they experienced gracious hospitality from the French while building stronger bonds with other members of St. Patrick's.
"We’re usually just in and out of Mass, so we see a lot of people, but we don’t really have a chance to really connect with them, and that was a nice part of the trip," Joel Patton said.
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