The Right Reverend Patrick McKinney, Bishop of Nottingham, joined the National Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope on its last day as pilgrims descended on his diocesan Cathedral Church of St Barnabas.
Geographically, Nottingham worked well as the intersection point where the four pilgrimage ‘Ways’ – north, south, east and west – came together to complete a huge Cross that was traced by the footsteps of the pilgrims across England and Wales.
Bishop Patrick linked up with the pilgrims walking the final miles of St John’s Way on Saturday, 13 September, braving torrential rain on the way to Nottingham Cathedral.
Speaking to Catholic News he shared his experience:
“There was prayer, there was singing, there was silence. And the silence was really important because it brought home to us all that there are two journeys at work. There is the physical journey of walking through areas, but also there is that inner journey in each of us of moving, of growing in our relationship with the Lord, in our relationship with others, in our relationship with the beauty of creation, with God behind it.”
This was a pilgrimage of hope blessed by the Holy Father himself, Pope Leo XIV:
“At the end of our prayer service on Saturday, the Vigil of the Feast of the Exaltation, I was delighted to be able to announce to everyone gathered that we had received a blessing from Pope Leo on the Pilgrimage, and particularly on all the people who had taken part… people were delighted, surprised, and found it so fitting that Dr Phil McCarthy, the organiser of the Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope, should receive it on behalf of everyone.”
You can subscribe to our Catholic News podcasts via Apple Podcasts or Amazon/Audible.
