Green Bay Pilgrims Visit Adele Brice’s Belgian Homeland and Birthplace as Local Media Takes Notice

About 50 pilgrims from the Diocese of Green Bay are traveling through Belgium on a 10-day journey to visit the birthplace and homeland of Servant of God Adele Brice. The group departed Chicago for Brussels on Oct. 10. Bishop David Ricken is serving as the spiritual director for the trip, accompanied by co-chaplains Father Matt Simonar and Father Alvan Amadi.

This trip marks the first pilgrimage organized by the diocese around the cause for canonization of Adele Brice, which Bishop Ricken formally opened earlier this year. Brice was born in 1831 in the Belgian village of Dion-le-Val before moving to Wisconsin in 1855. In 1859, she reported three apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary near Champion, Wisconsin. Following these events, she spent her life teaching the faith to Belgian immigrant families and establishing a school and chapel.

The pilgrimage has drawn attention from Belgian Catholic media, including CathoBel, which reported on the American visitors on Oct. 13. The Church approved the apparitions reported by Brice in 2010.