The four main routes, or Ways, that make up the National Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope will converge at the Cathedral Church of Saint Barnabas in Nottingham on Saturday, 13 September.
Local people are gearing up to give the walkers a warm welcome to Nottingham and the pilgrims will end their journeys with a weekend of reflection, celebration and thanksgiving.
The Right Reverend Patrick McKinney, Bishop of Nottingham, said:
“It’s a privilege for me to be able welcome the ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ to the Diocese, and an honour that the city and the Cathedral of Nottingham has been chosen as their destination.
“Across the centuries people of many faiths and cultures have found pilgrimage to be a powerful way to encounter the divine and find hope for themselves and others. No-one can undertake the kind of journey these pilgrims are taking and not be changed. I wish them safe travels and a memorable welcome in Nottingham.
“In a world where hope can seem fragile, I pray that they will return home with deepened faith in God and renewed hope for humanity.”
The National Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope is a key contribution to the Catholic Church’s Holy Year of 2025. The pilgrims on the longest route, St Matthew’s Way, set out on foot from St David’s Metropolitan Cathedral, Cardiff, on 28 August with the other routes departing from the Catholic cathedrals of Southwark, Norwich and Leeds to converge in Nottingham at the same time.
All are now only a day’s walk away from Nottingham, with the four routes completing a huge ‘Sign of the Cross’ to bless our countries.
The pilgrimage is an initiative of the ‘Hearts in Search of God’ project. A total of 22 ‘perpetual pilgrims’ are walking the full distance of each Way, with up to 20 day pilgrims joining each route for a day or more.
Walkers will begin arriving from 3pm on Saturday, 13 September, and will be welcomed into the Cathedral Church of St Barnabas – celebrated architect Augustus Welby Pugin’s Gothic Revival masterpiece that was built in 1842. Guided tours, and even a ‘mini-pilgrimage’ of the building, will be on offer as part of the national programme for Heritage Open Days.
The Jubilee Icon, by Ethiopian artist Mulugeta Araya will be on display as part of its tour of England and Wales during the Jubilee Year. The icon was commissioned by CAFOD, the Catholic Church’s international aid and development agency, and depicts Jesus preaching a message of liberation – a key theme of the ancient Jewish teaching of jubilee, which is just as relevant in today’s world of poverty and international debt.
A Liturgy of Thanksgiving takes place in the Cathedral at 5pm. Pilgrims will share their reflections as they look back on the combined 641 miles they will have walked. Later in the evening, a celebration Ceilidh led by an Irish folk band takes place in the Cathedral Hall.
The pilgrimage will culminate the following morning, 14 September, with a special Mass in the Cathedral at 11:15am for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, reminding believers how the sacrifice of Christ opens a way from death to life – from cruelty to compassion, and from hatred to love.
The four Ways used established hiking routes and can be found on the Pilgrim Ways website.
Article image: With thanks to Fr Peter Wygnanski, walking the Way of St Luke. Used with permission.
You can follow the four ‘Ways’ on Instagram where the pilgrims have been posting stories and media.
SOUTH
St John’s Way
NORTH
St Mark’s Way
WEST
St Matthew’s Way
EAST
St Luke’s Way
Phil McCarthy, project lead for the ‘Hearts in Search of God’ initiative, is the organiser of the National Jubilee Pilgrimage. You can listen to a 14-minute podcast, recorded the week prior to departure, in which Phil discusses the four main routes of the national pilgrimage and his desire to place the ancient, pre-Reformation tradition of walking pilgrimages at the heart of our Catholic consciousness.
