New Director for Our Lourdes Pilgrimage

14 April 2009

Our annual pilgrimage to Lourdes is one of the highlights of the year for people who are part of the Catholic Church in the West of England.  A new director has been appointed by Bishop Declan to coordinate the planning and promotion of the pilgrimage.

Deacon David Wakefield has taken on the role succeeding Deacon Trevor Jones who stepped down after last year's jubilee pilgrimage.  Deacon Trevor's dedicated ministry to pilgrims over many years is appreciated by those who've taken the spiritual trip to Lourdes.  His love of Lourdes is clear for all to hear in the podcast he made at last year's torchlight procession.

Deacon David is part of the Our Lady and the Immaculate Conception parish in Devizes.  He's looking forward to the challenge and opportunities his new role will give him.

You can listen to Deacon David in our podcast on the right.  We met him, shortly after being appointed by Bishop Declan, at the airport and you could do the same when you join our pilgrimage to the unique French town at the foot of the Pyrenees. 

Bishop Declan leads the pilgrimage which begins on Friday 21 August and runs until Friday 28 August.  

Download the brochure in the multimedia panel on the right for much more information.

You have the choice of travelling from several airports or take the train and experience the famous Eurostar and French TGV.

To find out more and make your booking contact Deacon David at our special Lourdes email address lourdes@cliftondiocese.com. Deacon David can answer your questions and any concerns you may have.  In the build-up to our pilgrimage cliftondiocese.com now has a front page link to a new dedicated Lourdes pilgrimage page.

cliftondiocese.com has much more about Lourdes in our popular 'Lourdes Lives' podcast series.  Our series celebrated last year's 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous.  Many people from around our diocese told us their amazing stories of Lourdes.  You can still hear them online.

Our unrivalled audio coverage of last year's pilgrimage - Lourdes Direct - just click back through the links - gives you a real sense of what our Lourdes pilgrimage is all about.  Take a look through our news from last August to see and hear all our pilgrimage reports.  An award-winning edition of BCfm's Face to Faith will also give you more of an idea of what a pilgrimage to Lourdes is like.