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The Hearts in Search of God Easter 2024 Newsletter

Phil McCarthy • April 1, 2024

Welcome to the Easter 2024 Hearts in Search of God newsletter! The calvary in the photo above is outside the Church of the English Martyrs at Whalley on the Salford Pilgrim Way. It is a reminder of the journey we have been on through Lent. We are now in the Easter season: a time for celebration and (for pilgrims) for planning the year's walking. 


Online Conference! 

2024 is a year of preparation for the Holy Year of 2025 with its motto ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. On 20th May 2024 I will be chairing a conference to encourage and equip people, especially the young, to undertake group walking pilgrimage to mark the Holy Year. There will be input from experts in walking pilgrimages and from dioceses and Catholic organisations. You are welcome to join online. For more information and to register visit: Event programme and registration


Pilgrim Ways

There are now GPX files available for routes in all the dioceses of England & Wales and full walking directions in the dioceses of Arundel & Brighton, Birmingham, Brentwood all year and summer only, Cardiff, Clifton, East Anglia, Hallam, Lancaster North and South, Leeds, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Northampton, Nottingham, Plymouth, Salford, Southwark and Westminster. There are also Pilgrim Ways for the Ukrainian and Syro-Malabar eparchies and the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. 


The Wrexham Way has been walked and will be the next to be published. The Way ends at Shrine of St Winefride at Holywell which was established as a national shrine by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales in November 2023. It also featured in the first episode of the current BBC pilgrimage series.
 

Resources

These include resources for group pilgrimage, pilgrim passports and certificates of completion. There is a webpage for people who would like to add to the significance of their pilgrimage by raising money to help others. 

 

Going deeper 
Articles on the ‘Going Deeper’ webpages provide context and expert background to pilgrimage. The latest is by:
• 
Frans A Vossenberg, on his family’s pilgrimage along the Cornish Celtic Catholic Way. 

I am grateful to Frans and the others who have contributed their time and expertise to the project website. 

 

News, Stories & Events
Thanks to all those who have contributed stories over the last few months. Topics include:
•  Gerard Boner on pilgrimage to
Padley Chapel in the Hope Valley 
• 
Kate Macpherson on the John Bradburne Memorial Society’s 2024 Cross Fell pilgrimage which will be held on 8th June. 


I have also written about:
•  An ecumenical and interfaith
pilgrimage in Cardiff.
•  The importance of
open church doors for Together for the Common Good

 

I was delighted to take part in the 2024 Pilgrims to Rome conference. A recording of the virtual conference can be found here: Pilgrims to Rome online conference 


Feedback on the Ways 

I would be grateful for any feedback you have about the proposed Ways, and to hear of your experience of walking them. Don’t forget to download your certificate of completion. If you have a story or a pilgrim resource or event to share, please contact me through the website.

 
Wishing you every blessing of the Easter season, and
buen camino
 
Phil McCarthy, Project Lead



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Jenny Hayward-Jones describes how to help some of the poorest people in the world through CAFOD's work.
By Richard Smart January 13, 2025
Richard Smart reflects on walking for peace for the Awareness Foundation.
By Eddie Gilmore December 27, 2024
Eddie Gilmore explains how a pilgrimage along a forbidden track to Thomas Merton's hermitage helped him to understand the meaning of monastic life.
By Roy Peachey December 16, 2024
Support school feeding programmes in some of the world’s poorest communities through your walk!
By Phil McCarthy December 8, 2024
A national walking pilgrimage for England & Wales with four main Ways converging at the Cathedral of St Barnabas, Nottingham, on Saturday 13th September 2025, the eve of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
By Karen Lawrence November 26, 2024
Between March 2023 and May 2024, Karen Lawrence walked the 180 miles from London to the National Shrine of Our Lady in Walsingham. She has recently published a book to share her story.
By Keith Taylor November 14, 2024
Are you a pilgrim or a keen local walker? Are you familiar with sections of the Viking Way and/or the Queen Eleanor Crosses Way?
By Nick Dunne November 13, 2024
A new book on walking the Via Francigena.
By Eddie Gilmore November 12, 2024
Pilgrim and writer Eddie Gilmore reflects on his recent journey with his wife along the Camino to Finistere.
By Phil McCarthy November 10, 2024
St Mark's Way The northern Pilgrimage of Hope Way from the Cathedral Church of St Anne in Leeds to St Barnabas' Cathedral in Nottingham via the St Marie's Cathedral in Sheffield and the Chapel of the Padley Martyrs. Patron: St Hilda of Whitby (c. 614 – 680) abbess and key figure in the Anglo-Saxon Church. Hilda founded and was the first abbess of the monastery at Whitby which was the venue for the Synod of Whitby in 664. She was widely recognised for her wisdom and learning and trained five bishops. Her feast is celebrated on 17th November. Overview: The Way starts at Leeds Cathedral and follows the Transpennine Trail (TPT) SE beside the Aire & Calder Navigation to Mickletown. Here the path veers SW to continue on the TPT along a disused railway line and then the River Calder to Wakefield. The Way follows the TPT again beside the former Barnsley Canal and then along a disused railway to Wombwell. The route turns SW along the Barnsley Boundary Walk to Elscar, and then across farmland to briefly join the Old Salt Rd, beside the A629. The Way soon joins the Sheffield Country Walk and follows this beside the Sheffield Canal to reach St Marie's Cathedral in central Sheffield. From here the Way joins the Padley Martyrs Way , leaving the city through Endcliffe Park and then climbing Houndkirk Moor to arrive at the Chapel of the Padley Martyrs. The path then follows the River Derwent to Matlock. The Way leaves the Derwent at Ambergate and turns E, through Ripley and then along the former Cromford Canal to Eastwood. Here the route joins the Robin Hood Way to Strelley where the Way veers E to Kingsbury and finally reaches St Barnabas' Cathedral, central Nottingham. Essential facts: Route length: 107.6 miles Ascent 3,615 ft: The route is mostly flat with the only significant climb on Day 4 over Houndkirk Moor Peak elevation: 1,388 ft Average walk day length: 13.5 miles Average walk duration: 5-6 hours First walking day Sat 6 September 2025 Number of walking days: 8 Number of rest days: 0 Last walking day: Saturday 13 September: arrival at St Barnabas' Cathedral Nottingham for evening prayer and social celebration Sunday 14 September, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: pilgrims are invited to join the 11.15 Solemn Mass at St Barnabas' Cathedral Details of the day pilgrimage stages will be available when day pilgrimage booking opens in April 2025. For a detailed map of the route click the button below.
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