My name is Fr. David Wathen. I am a priest-leader and guide for Holy Land pilgrimages. I lived in the Holy Land for more than eight years, serving as a spiritual assistant to pilgrims for most of that time. My home base is now the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C., where I am the director of the Pilgrimage Office. But I still spend as much as eight months out of the year in the Holy Land. I am always available by email. I want to encourage you to take a pilgrimage and enjoy this wonderful spiritual journey with me.

"Many memorable experiences of pilgrims to the Holy Land have been possible thanks also to the hospitality and fraternal guidance offered by you, especially by the Franciscan Friars of the Custody. For this service, I wish to assure you of the appreciation and gratitude of the Universal Church and I express the wish that many more pilgrims will visit in the future."

- Excerpt of a message delivered by Pope Benedict XVI in the Upper Room
(Last Supper Room) in May 2009.