DETROIT — A Walled Lake family has completed a three-year pilgrimage, during which they have taken their message urging fellow Catholics to pray for priests and vocations to every church in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Nick and Doris Lontscharitsch, along with their daughter, Doris Yvone, 20, and son, Juan Pablo, 16, wrapped up their pilgrimage to all 284 churches in the archdiocese with their Oct. 7 visit to the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit. The family even visited the archdiocese’s parish in the Cayman Islands — St. Ignatius — which is under the spiritual care of the archbishop of Detroit.

And everywhere they went, they carried a large, 2-foot-long crucifix with them. They told the priest why they were there, and many priests made a pulpit announcement to let the congregation know, and encourage parishioners to meet with the family after Mass.

“At the beginning, my wife started out going alone; then, a few weeks later, she got the idea that this had to be done as a family, as the family is the breeding ground for priests,” Nick Lontscharitsch said.

Since then, all four have made it to most of the church visits.

“We need priests. They give us Jesus alive every day — something only a priest can do,” he said.

Lontscharitsch acknowledged that priests are not perfect, but he said the message he and his wife have been promoting is that people should pray for them, rather than criticizing or complaining.

“Pray for them — accept their failures, but pray for them,” he said, adding that people from more than 20 countries are now participating in their prayer campaign.

The Lontscharitsches are members of St. William Parish in Walled Lake.