Bishop Leads Online Lourdes Pilgrimage

20 August 2008

Bishop Declan is leading the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes this week (Friday 22 August to Friday 29 August).  Catholics from the West of England will be joining him on a visit marking the 150th anniversary of the French town becoming a place of pilgrimage.

There will be regular podcasts and pictures on cliftondiocese.com - so people back home can feel that they are part of the pilgrimage. 

Bishop Declan said, “This is a special year for people who regard Lourdes as a place of prayer and spiritual nourishment. 

“I hope that people who cannot be with us in Lourdes will find the pictures and podcasts a way to share in the special celebrations for this 150th year. 

“Of course it’s not just Catholics that look to Lourdes as a place of prayer, healing and hope; many other Christians also go on pilgrimage there.”

2008 is the 150th anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin Mary to 14 year-old Bernadette Soubirous (now Saint Bernadette).  Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate the anniversary of the apparitions when he visits Lourdes from 13 to 15 September.

Throughout the year a series of podcasts entitled ‘Lourdes Lives’ has been published weekly on cliftondiocese.com.  ‘Lourdes Lives’ features local people who have visited Lourdes talking about their, sometimes life changing, experiences.