The Hearts in Search of God Easter 2024 Newsletter

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The Hearts in Search of God Easter 2024 Newsletter

Phil McCarthy • Apr 01, 2024

Welcome to the Easter 2024 Hearts in Search of God newsletter! The calvary in the photo above is outside the Church of the English Martyrs at Whalley on the Salford Pilgrim Way. It is a reminder of the journey we have been on through Lent. We are now in the Easter season: a time for celebration and (for pilgrims) for planning the year's walking.

Online Conference!

2024 is a year of preparation for the Holy Year of 2025 with its motto ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. On 20th May 2024 I will be chairing a conference to encourage and equip people, especially the young, to undertake group walking pilgrimage to mark the Holy Year. There will be input from experts in walking pilgrimages and from dioceses and Catholic organisations. You are welcome to join online. For more information and to register visit: Event programme and registration.

Pilgrim Ways

There are now GPX files available for routes in all the dioceses of England & Wales and full walking directions in the dioceses of Arundel & Brighton, Birmingham, Brentwood all year and summer only, Cardiff, Clifton, East Anglia, Hallam, Lancaster North and South, Leeds, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Northampton, Nottingham, Plymouth, Salford, Southwark and Westminster. There are also Pilgrim Ways for the Ukrainian and Syro-Malabar eparchies and the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

The Wrexham Way has been walked and will be the next to be published. The Way ends at Shrine of St Winefride at Holywell which was established as a national shrine by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales in November 2023. It also featured in the first episode of the current BBC pilgrimage series.

Resources
These include resources for group pilgrimage, pilgrim passports and certificates of completion. There is a webpage for people who would like to add to the significance of their pilgrimage by raising money to help others.

Going deeper
Articles on the ‘Going Deeper’ webpages provide context and expert background to pilgrimage. The latest is by:
• Frans A Vossenberg, on his family’s pilgrimage along the Cornish Celtic Catholic Way.

I am grateful to Frans and the others who have contributed their time and expertise to the project website.

News, Stories & Events
Thanks to all those who have contributed stories over the last few months. Topics include:
• Gerard Boner on pilgrimage to Padley Chapel in the Hope Valley
• Kate Macpherson on the John Bradburne Memorial Society’s 2024 Cross Fell pilgrimage which will be held on 8th June.

I have also written about:
• An ecumenical and interfaith pilgrimage in Cardiff.
• The importance of open church doors for Together for the Common Good.

I was delighted to take part in the 2024 Pilgrims to Rome conference. A recording of the virtual conference can be found here: Pilgrims to Rome online conference

Feedback on the Ways
I would be grateful for any feedback you have about the proposed Ways, and to hear of your experience of walking them. Don’t forget to download your certificate of completion. If you have a story or a pilgrim resource or event to share, please contact me through the website.

Wishing you every blessing of the Easter season, and buen camino!

Phil McCarthy, Project Lead

< Older Post Newer Post >

Walking as Pilgrims of Hope in Father Brown’s Footsteps

By Rowan Morton-Gledhill • 10 May, 2024

Rowan Morton-Gledhill describes the first pilgrimage for vocations in the Diocese of Leeds, in the footsteps of GK Chesterton and Fr Brown!

Walking the Three Altars Way

By Gerard Bonner • 07 May, 2024

Gerard Bonner describes the first pilgrimage along the Three Altars Way in the Diocese of Hallam.

Why church doors should be open

By Phil McCarthy • 29 Apr, 2024

In this blog, originally published on the website of Together for the Common Good, Phil McCarthy argues for the importance of open church doors.

A Pilgrimage Taster Day Walk in Sussex for Young People

By John Chenery • 16 Apr, 2024

You are invited to join a pilgrimage taster day walk in Sussex for young people organised by the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton Ecumenical Walking Pilgrimage. NB This is not an event for existing A&B walking pilgrims. Rather we want existing pilgrims to encourage a younger generation to take part. The details are as follows: Walk for Young People aged 16 plus Saturday 25th May 2024 Start and finish at St Wilfred's Church, South Rd, Hailsham, BN27 3JG 09.30 Registration 10.00 Start walk 12.30 Prayers/lunch St Pancras, Arlington 14.00 Michelham Priory 16.00 Arrive St Wilfred’s Church Hall 16.30 Prayers and depart Please bring a packed lunch and wear suitable clothes and footwear. For more info email garyobrien4@yahoo.co.u

The Holywell Way is ready to walk!

By Phil McCarthy • 15 Apr, 2024

The Holywell Way is a Pilgrim Way for the Diocese of Wrexham from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows in Wrexham to the National Shrine of St Winefride at Holywell. St Winefride’s Well is believed to be the only British shrine that has a history of uninterrupted pilgrimage from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Way is north from the Cathedral to join the Wat's Dyke Way which then passes through a valley beside the River Alyn to the villages of Caergwrle and Hope. After 10 miles the Pilgrim Way diverges from the Wat's Dyke Way to visit the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Buckley, re-joining the Wat’s Dyke Way just over a mile after this. On leaving the village of Sychdyn the Wat's Dyke Way diverts from the line of the Dyke to take in a Celtic hill fort at Rhosesmor. The Pilgrim Way takes a more direct route, but the two paths coincide again shortly before crossing the A55 North Wales Expressway. After this the path follows an impressive section of the Dyke. The Way ends at the Shrine of St Winefride in Holywell, but pilgrims may wish to walk on to Basingwerk Abbey, the ruins of a C12 Cistercian monastery (1.0 miles). This is the start of the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way.