The Pilgrims to Rome Virtual Conference was held on Sunday 17th April at 8pm. I was delighted to be invited to participate.

Dawn Champion, head of community engagement at the British Pilgrimage Trust, spoke on preparing for pilgrimage and walking alone.

David Andrews, ecologist and adviser for Natural England will be presented on 'Why walk the Via Francigena'.

I will be spoke about ‘Life after the Via Francigena’. In 2008 I walked the Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome alone and in 2015 I walked on from Rome to Istanbul. These experiences awakened an interest in pilgrimage and led to me starting the Hearts in Search of God project. I have written books about both pilgrimages.

The presentations and Q&A are now available on YouTube. I'm grateful to Pilgrims to Rome and the presenter for their permission to share the recording on this website.

Phil McCarthy, Hearts in Search of God project lead