The Winter Hearts in Search of God Newsletter

Phil McCarthy • February 19, 2025

Dear Friend

Welcome to the Winter 2025 Hearts in Search of God Project newsletter.

The 2025 Jubilee

In the Catholic Church, Jubilees or Holy Years are special years of grace, forgiveness and reconciliation. The first was declared by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. The 2025 Jubilee marks the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. It has especial significance in England & Wales as it also commemorates 175 years since the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy after the penal centuries that followed the English Reformation. The Jubilee has the theme 'pilgrims of hope' and the logo shows people coming from the four corners of the earth in solidarity. Pope Francis has written:

“Pilgrimage is of course a fundamental element of every Jubilee event. Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life. A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort and simplicity of life. In the coming year, pilgrims of hope will surely travel the ancient and more modern routes in order to experience the Jubilee to the full.” (Spes Non Confundit, Bull of Indiction of the 2025 Jubilee, p5)

The Pilgrimage of Hope

One way to ‘experience the Jubilee to the full’ is by joining the Pilgrimage of Hope, a national walking pilgrimage with four main Ways converging at the Cathedral of St Barnabas, Nottingham, on Saturday 13th September 2025, for shared prayer and celebration. The Pilgrimage will culminate with Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on 14th September at St Barnabas' Cathedral. The Pilgrimage will embody the values of the Sisters of the Holy Cross of compassion, faith, prayer and community.

The four main Ways start at the Catholic cathedrals in Cardiff, Leeds, Norwich and London, and will bless our nations with a Sign of the Cross and with the Gospels. The routes use established hiking routes and are off road as much as possible. A small group of 'perpetual pilgrims' will walk the full distance of each Way, and day pilgrims will be able to join for stages. Stretches which are suitable for wheelchairs and buggies will be identified. There will be opportunities for non-walkers to provide enroute support, hospitality and prayer. There are also possible feeder routes to the four main Ways from all the other Catholic cathedrals of England & Wales for keen long-distance walkers, so people from every diocese can participate.

If you could help with trailblazing the routes over the next 6 weeks, or would like to consider becoming a perpetual pilgrim, you can find more details here. Registration for day pilgrims will open in April.

Diocesan Pilgrim Ways during the 2025 Jubilee

If the Pilgrimage of Hope is not for you, then you can become a ‘pilgrim of hope’ by walking one of the Pilgrim Ways in England & Wales. There is one for every Catholic diocese, the Ukrainian and Syro-Malabar eparchies, the Bishopric of the Armed Forces and the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Details of the inner and outer journeys, walking guidance, maps and GPX files for all the Ways can be downloaded for free here.

All the Ways start at the cathedral of the diocese and end at a shrine in the same diocese. Many of the cathedrals and shrines will be Jubilee sacred sites, ‘sacred places of welcome and privileged spaces for the rebirth of hope’ (Spes non confundit, 24). Details of the Jubilee churches and shrines near you can be found on your diocese’s website.

Resources

There are resources on the website for pilgrimage including a new one on:

Walking pilgrimage, care for creation and the common good.

Going deeper

Articles on the ‘Going Deeper’ webpages provide context and expert background to pilgrimage. The latest is by:

Fleur Dorrell, the Biblical Apostolate Manager at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales, and the national co-ordinator of the ‘God who Speaks’ project. She explores the nature of travel and some key journeys in the Bible to help us navigate our own lives.
Arran M Kearney describes his pilgrimage along the St Philomena Way in the Diocese of Shrewsbury, and explains why it was important to his faith journey. He shares the poetry he wrote enroute and reflects on how Christianity underpins the culture of England.

I am grateful to Fleur and Arran, and the others who have contributed their time and expertise which really adds to the resources on the website.

News, Stories & Events

Thanks as well to all those who have contributed stories over the last few months. Topics include

Another Day in Paradise - the magic of the Camino: pilgrim and writer Eddie Gilmore reflects on his recent journey with his wife along the Camino to Finisterre.
Help wanted to develop the Camino Inglés in England: Keith Taylor describes the development of the Camino Inglés from Finchale Priory to join the St James Way at Reading.
Walking to Walsingham: 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 wonderful book to share her story and to encourage other pilgrims.
In Praise of the Useless Life: Eddie Gilmore explains how a pilgrimage along a forbidden track to Thomas Merton's hermitage helped him to understand monastic life.
Peace Pilgrimage: Richard Smart reflects on walking for peace for the Awareness Foundation.
CAFOD webinar: it was a wonderful to be asked to contribute to CAFOD’s webinar introducing the Jubilee year.
Hexham & Newcastle webinar: I was delighted to take part in this webinar organised by the Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle on pilgrimage in the Jubilee.

Feedback on the Diocesan Ways

I would be grateful for any feedback you have about the Ways, and especially any route updates and changes. After your pilgrimage remember 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.

Please feel free to share his newsletter with people who may be interested. I hope you enjoy the website, designed by the wonderful people at Everyday Christian Marketing.

Wishing you every blessing and joy as we start the Jubilee year, during which we can become ‘pilgrims of hope’.

Buen camino!

Phil McCarthy, Project Lead

< Older Post

Newer Post >

The Pilgrimage of Hope is open for day pilgrims to register!

By Phil McCarthy • June 5, 2025

Registration for day pilgrims to join the 2025 National Walking Pilgrimage of Hope is now open! The Pilgrimage of Hope is a national walking pilgrimage with four main Ways converging at the Cathedral of St Barnabas, Nottingham, on Saturday 13th September 2025, for shared prayer and celebration. The four main Ways start at the Catholic cathedrals in Cardiff, Leeds, Norwich and Southwark, London, and will bless our nations with a Sign of the Cross and with the Gospels. The routes are named after the Evangelists and use established hiking routes and are off road as much as possible. A small group of 4-6 'perpetual pilgrims' will walk the full distance of each Way, and up to 20 day pilgrims will be able to join for day stages. Stretches which are suitable for wheelchairs and buggies have been be identified. There will be opportunities for non-walkers to provide enroute support, hospitality and prayer. There are possible feeder routes to the four main Ways from all the other Catholic cathedrals of England & Wales for keen long-distance walkers, so people from every diocese can organise their own pilgrimages. More information and registration Information about how to support the Pilgrimage with prayer and hospitality and how to register to walk stages as day pilgrims can be found here . Wishing you every blessing and joy during this Jubilee year, as we strive to become ‘pilgrims of hope’. I hope to meet many of you in Nottingham on 13th September. Buen camino! Phil McCarthy, Project Lead

Walking in the steps of London's saints

By Colette Joyce /ICN • June 4, 2025

A group of 25 pilgrims gathered at the English Martyrs Church by Tower Hill last Thursday morning, Feast of the Ascension, to take part in the Westminster Way Jubilee Year Pilgrimage, led by Westminster Diocese Justice and Peace Co-Ordinator Colette Joyce. At each station we prayed and reflected on saints connected to London and the inspiration they continue to be for us today: St John Houghton and the Carthusian Martyrs of the Reformation, the missionary St Augustine of Canterbury, St Anne Line who sheltered priests and held secret Masses in her home during the Elizabethan persecution, St Erconwald, St Ethelburga and St Etheldreda. We remembered the scholars of the 7th century who brought learning and education to both men and women, and St John Henry Newman whose own spiritual journey of conversion and prophetic sense of the nature of the Church had a profound influence on the 20th century leading up to the Second Vatican Council. From the church we walked past the Tower of London, where so many Catholic martyrs met their fate during the Reformation, stopping to pray at the site of the scaffold where St John Fisher and St Thomas More were executed. Our next stop was Mary Moorfields, the only Catholic Church in the City of London. From here we walked to the Charterhouse, once a Carthusian priory and home to the first martyrs of the Reformation. The Prior, St John Houghton and Companions were hung and quartered for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. Watching from his cell window, St Thomas More witnessed the monks being dragged on hurdles from the Tower of London on 4 May 1535. He is said to have admired their courage and faith as they went to their deaths, viewing them as "Cheerfully going to their deaths as bridegrooms going to their marriage." From here we walked to St Etheldreda's, Ely Place, one of the oldest Catholic churches in London. Built around 1250 as the town chapel for the bishops of Ely. After the Reformation It had several owners . For a a time it was used by the Spanish ambassador as a private chapel. During Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth, it was used as a prison and a hospital. The Rosminians bought St Etheldreda's in 1874 and have restored it beautifully. As we were walking during Laudato Si' Week, pilgrim leader Colette Joyce invited pilgrims to reflect on the flora and fauna of London on our way. London is a surprisingly green city, blessed with around twenty percent tree coverage - which makes it technically a forest! We are especially grateful to the Victorians who planted the ubiquitous London Plane trees which can be found in streets and parks all over the city, while there are more than 400 other species of tree to discover. "The entire material universe speaks of God's love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God… contemplation of creation allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us." (Laudato Si', 84-85) After a stop at Corpus Christi Church in Covent Garden - where former parish priest Fr Francis Stanfield wrote Sweet Sacrament Divine and Mgr Ronald Knox preached his famous homilies on the Blessed Sacrament - we made our way down the Strand, past Traflagar Square, through Whitehall, down to Westminster Cathedral. On our arrival, we weary walkers were greeted by the Cathedral Dean, Fr Slawomir Witoń. We ended our pilgrimage with prayers in the Martyrs Chapel and a reflection from Fr Slawomir on the life and witness of St John Southworth, patron saint of clergy in the Diocese of Westminster. The pilgrims received the final stamp in their Pilgrim Passports and a blessing before returning home. Colette Joyce, Westminster Diocese Justice and Peace Co-Ordinator Read more about the Westminster Way: https://westminsterjusticeandpeace.org/2025/06/02/walking-the-westminster-way/ This article was first published on Independent Catholic News: Independent Catholic News Image: Pilgrims at Westminster Cathedral (Archdiocese of Westminster)

The Psychology of Pilgrimage

By Phil McCarthy • June 3, 2025

In this podcast I discuss the psychology of pilgrimage, especially as it relates to visiting First World War battlefields and cemeteries.

Walking the St Wulstan Way

By Peter Chisholm • May 31, 2025

Pilgrims joined Fr Gerry Walsh tracing St Wulstan’s life and legacy, from Worcester Cathedral to Clifton Cathedral as part of the Catholic Church’s Year of Jubilee, “Pilgrims of Hope” celebrations. Participants explored their faith while journeying through stunning landscapes and historic locations.