This September, a small band of pilgrims from Leeds and Hallam Dioceses will walk England’s Longest Way to Walsingham!
Starting with Mass at Leeds Cathedral on 12 September, the group of ‘Perpetual Pilgrims’ will follow the St Mark’s Way route of last year’s Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope, via St Marie’s Cathedral in Sheffield and the Catholic Cathedral of St Barnabas in Nottingham – and then, striking out east through the Diocese of East Anglia, on the St Luke’s Way to Walsingham.
Those walking the whole route will cover a total distance of at least 230 miles: that’s 50 miles longer even than the revived mediaeval route of the London to Walsingham Camino!
‘Day Pilgrims’ will be welcomed to walk a stage of the pilgrimage through their parish or deanery and may join for devotions or provide hospitality at the beginning or end of each day.
In this Year of St Francis, this sustainable diocesan pilgrimage will pass through the English countryside on foot, and occasionally on public transport. Visiting the Padley Martyrs’ Shrine and other sacred sites along the way, this new Camino will celebrate our country as the Dowry of Our Lady, as well as having the aim of closer collaborations between three linked-yet-distinct northern Catholic dioceses: Leeds, Hallam and Middlesbrough.
The pilgrimage came about because late last year, the Holy Father appointed the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Marcus Stock, as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Middlesbrough, and arrangements were made for the Bishop to lead the two dioceses’ annual day-pilgrimages to Walsingham as a joint event on Saturday 26 September.
When, just a few months later in March of this year, Pope Leo added Hallam Diocese to the Bishop’s responsibilities, the idea was born of a Camino Walk to Walsingham, through Hallam, setting off two weeks in advance, and scheduled to reach the National Catholic Shrine in time to greet the Bishop and pilgrims who have travelled down for the day by coach from Leeds and Middlesbrough.
‘Perpetual Pilgrim’ Rowan Morton-Gledhill from the Diocese of Leeds said: ‘Taking ‘The Longest Way’ to Walsingham isn’t a record attempt or endurance test – and these events are not just “joint jaunts”! However the Way is travelled, and whatever the distance, the People of God from Leeds, Hallam and Middlesbrough Dioceses will be following in the footsteps of Catholic pilgrims throughout the ages, as we make our spiritual journey in praise of God and to honour Our Lady: walking together along the well-trodden paths of prayer and penitence, which are at the heart of every pilgrimage.’
