Walking as Pilgrims of Hope Conference Report
In preparation for the 2025 Jubilee with its motto ‘pilgrims of hope’ the Hearts in Search of God project held a conference. The aims were to help dioceses and other Catholic organisations to undertake walking pilgrimage during the Holy Year confidently, and to build a community of people involved in walking pilgrimage. There were 32 onsite participants with 75 registered to join online. The event was recorded, and the content of presentations and discussions will be used to create a resource on walking pilgrimage and the Jubilee.
Participants met at the Church of St Mary Moorfield, 4/5 Eldon Street, in the City of London. The City is the square mile inside the ancient Roman walls of Londinium. It is a city, ceremonial county and local government district with its own Lord Mayor, Corporation and police force. During the Nineteenth Century it was the centre of global trade. In 2022 London came second after New York in the Global Financial Centres Index. Before the Great Fire of 1666, there were over 100 churches in the City. By the start of World War Two there were just under 50, half of which were badly damaged by bombing, 5 beyond repair. By the late 1960s after restoration and rebuilding there were 39 Anglican churches in good condition. Some are now redundant or used for other purposes. There is only one Catholic church in the square mile, and our pilgrimage started there.
We were welcomed by Fr Chris Vipers, Parish Priest & Director of the Agency for Evangelisation, Archdiocese of Westminster who described the history of the church and parish. We listened to St Luke’s account of the Walk to Emmaus, and Cath McCarthy, my wife and a spiritual director, led us in prayer. Fr Chris blessed us, and we set off. During our 1.2 mile walk we passed the churches of St Botolph, St Ethelburga the Virgin with its Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, St Helen, Bishopsgate, St Mary Axe, St Andrew Undershaft, St Peter-upon-Cornhill, St Michael, Cornhill (built on the remains of the Roman Basilica), St Edmund, King & Martyr, St Clement (of ‘oranges and lemons’ fame), and the site of the former Church of St Laurence and Corpus Christi College. Finally we arrived at 1 Angel Lane, the office of CCLA, who generously provided the conference venue.
We were welcomed by Willie Hartley Russell, Client Investments Director, CCLA. CCLA (Churches, Charities and Local Authorities) Investment Management is the UK’s largest charity fund manager with £13 billion in assets. It is well known for managing investments for charities, religious organisations and the public sector. Uniquely, CCLA is owned by its investors. It is a pioneer of ethical and responsible investment and launched a Catholic Investment Fund in 2021, designed to reflect the teachings and mission of the Church. I am grateful for their generous hosting of the conference.
The conference started with an explanation from me of why we should walk as ‘pilgrims of hope’ in the Jubilee and what we know of the practical implications of the Papal Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee and the document on indulgences.
Next was an inspirational online presentation by Juliana Kazemi on ‘Walking pilgrimage as personal transformation and formation in faith’ based on her experiences as an American pilgrim on the Cornish Celtic Catholic Way. She described what inspired her and her family to walk as pilgrims in the UK during 2023, and then to plan to return in 2024. She explained what the pilgrimage means to her and shared her ideas about how we might inspire more people, especially the young, to walk as pilgrims of hope during the Jubilee. She argues that pilgrimage is an antidote to many of the disillusions of our time through walking, beauty and tradition. Her wonderful presentation can be watched by clicking on the button below.
After lunch we had two panel discussions with contributions from experts on walking pilgrimage. They were:
• How to plan a pilgrim route to maximise the spiritual, physical and social benefits of the walk, by Andrew Kelly, creator of the Augustine Camino and Shrine Director
• How to risk assess a route for health & safety and how to brief walkers about the risks, by Rowan Morton-Gledhill, Director of Communications for the Diocese of Leeds and coordinator of the St Wilfrid’s Way Camino
• How to organise group pilgrimages including group safeguarding and event insurance, by John Chenery, Arundel & Brighton Ecumenical Walking Pilgrimage coordinator and Alison Gelder, Pilgrim Cross representative
• How to organise and undertake a school pilgrimage to ensure a safe and spiritual experience for all involved, by Stuart Keene, Assistant Headteacher & pilgrimage organiser, St Edward’s School, Poole
• How to engage young people in walking pilgrimage, encourage them to join existing pilgrimages and organise their own, by Beth Przybylska, Strategic Project Director of Catholic Youth Ministries Federation (CYMFed)
• How to offer pilgrim accommodation as sanctuaries rather than stopovers, by Dawn Champion, Head of Community Operations, British Pilgrimage Trust
• The challenges of building fundraising into a pilgrimage project, by Dom De Boo, Community Fundraising Executive CAFOD
The day ended with prayer led by Sr Margaret Donovan, Sister of the Holy Cross. The Sisters of the Holy Cross CIC has supported the project with grant funding, and I am very grateful to them. The conference was followed by a convivial dinner.
The day was productive. The learning from the presentations will contribute to the group pilgrimage resources page of the Hearts in Search of God website. Hopefully every diocese and many other Catholic organisations will be inspired and encouraged to undertake walking pilgrimages during the Jubilee, perhaps alongside people of other churches and faiths.
Phil McCarthy
