Action Card – February 2025
Reclaim the lost art of walking pilgrimage
Walking the Pilgrim Ways
Reclaiming the lost art of walking pilgrimage in England and Wales has been the dream of one man. Phil McCarthy has been on a mission to rebuild a culture of walking pilgrimage that had been largely lost in England and Wales. He was a medical doctor in Bristol for many years and for six years was CEO of Caritas Social Action Network, the domestic social action agency of the Catholic Church in England & Wales. He has been interested in long distance walking for many years and in 2008 he walked from Canterbury to Rome alone. This experience awakened an interest in pilgrimage. In 2015 he walked from Rome to Istanbul. He has written books about both pilgrimages.
He founded ‘Pilgrim Ways’ which is a digital resource providing details of walking routes to key pilgrimage sites in each of the Catholic dioceses of England and Wales.
Phil is supporting growing interest in pilgrimage as offering a journey searching for deeper personal or spiritual understanding. Pilgrims seek greater appreciation for a shared faith, or an opportunity to learn about the culture and history that binds a community of believers. And they can do this close to home. “I hope these are routes, not just for Catholics to deepen their faith, but for everyone to experience pilgrimage,” says Phil.
The Catholic Church is celebrating a Jubilee Year in 2025 and Pilgrim Ways offers a new walking pilgrimage for England and Wales called ‘The Pilgrimage of Hope.’ The national walking pilgrimage has four main Ways, converging at the Cathedral of St Barnabas, Nottingham, on Saturday 13 September 2025. The Ways start at Catholic Cathedrals in Cardiff, Leeds, Norwich and London. They “will bless our nations with a Sign of the Cross and with the Gospels,” says Phil. A small group of pilgrims will walk the full distance of each Way, with day pilgrims joining for stages. All are welcome.
Some Possible Actions
Jubilee ‘Pilgrimage of Hope’
Find out about ‘The Pilgrimage of Hope’ planned for September and consider joining all or part of it. https://www.pilgrimways.org.uk/
Climate Pilgrimages
And climate pilgrimages have been organised in 2025 by Christian Climate Action.
Cancel the Debt
For the Year of Jubilee in 2025, the Catholic Church and others are calling for action on the global debt crisis. Debt Cancellation would free up resources for climate adaptation and mitigation efforts in indebted low-income countries.
Prayer of Unknowing
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.
Thomas Merton
This action card was prepared by Ellen Teague of the Columban Justice, Peace and Ecology Team. https://columbans.co.uk/update/justice-peace/