Our summer ‘At the Foot of the Cross’ is very much a pilgrimage podcast. So whether you’re staying at home or travelling abroad, there’s always time to walk with the Lord and deepen your faith.
Canon Chris Thomas, General Secretary here at the Bishops’ Conference, joins us to welcome a newly-installed Bishop for Hexham and Newcastle and to discuss his recent pilgrimage to Lourdes with the Diocese of Nottingham. He also gives us an apt Scripture reflection from Luke 6:43-49. It’s the Gospel that relates to the pastoral theme for pilgrimages to Lourdes in 2023. The words that Mary, the Mother of God, entrusted to Bernadette Soubirous on 2 March 1858 were: “Go and tell the priests that a chapel be built here and that people should come here in procession.”
We’re also joined by Fr Jan Nowotnik who, in an historic move, is travelling to Rome for the Synod in October as a non-bishop with full voting rights. This, too, should be looked at as a journey of faith for the global Church. Fr Jan gives us an update.
We then have a short preview of World Youth Day – a pilgrimage to Portugal’s capital Lisbon for hundreds of thousands of young people who will share their Catholic faith and celebrate being in the presence of Pope Francis. Luegi Lopes, our digital officer, is in Lisbon and is looking forward to this global Catholic mega event.
Finally, we celebrate those marvellous pilgrimages that can be embarked on in our own lands. These rich, walkable ‘Pilgrim Ways’ can be explored in every diocese of England and Wales. Philip McCarthy tells us why these routes – some ancient, some modern – can awaken our ‘Hearts in Search of God’.
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