Archbishops lead Ecumenical Pilgrimage
People from different Christian traditions joined together for a pilgrimage through Cardiff last week, led by two archbishops and a bishop.
The Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, the RC Archbishop of Cardiff, Mark O'Toole, and the Bishop of Llandaff, Mary Stallard led pilgrims as they journeyed from Llandaff Cathedral to the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral, sharing friendship and prayer.
The Ecumenical Pilgrimage was inspired by the words in Micah 6:8, "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God".
It began at Llandaff Cathedral with a welcome by the Bishop Mary, followed by a reflection on the spiritual significance of pilgrimage.
Before setting off, Bishop Mary said, "It's a delight and a privilege for me to be with everybody here, including our two wonderful Archbishops, Archbishop Mark and Archbishop Andrew. We are a communion of saints walking in the path of those who have gone before whose journey always points to Christ."
Pilgrims walked just over three miles through Bute Park as they took the opportunity to share their faith stories, and think about journeying in faith together.
On reaching Cardiff Cathedral, Archbishop Mark lead a short Liturgy of the Word Service reflecting on the words from Micah.
The Cross of Wales, the processional cross given to the Church in Wales by HM King Charles and containing a relic of the True Cross, led the processions at both cathedrals.
Afterwards Archbishop Mark said the pilgrimage promoted unity among the different faith communities that were present.
“The experience has been one of moving from being strangers to being friends on the journey of life and pilgrimage of life. Very much at the heart of our pilgrimage was the cross of Jesus Christ.
“And we were privileged to be able to welcome for the first time into the Catholic cathedral at St David’s in Cardiff, the Cross of Wales. This is a unique gift of King Charles to the Church in Wales.”
He added, “It was lovely to be joined by Archbishop Andrew and Bishop Mary, together with lots of other Christians of various denominations, members of other faiths and some politicians and then brothers and sisters who are working either for the church or who have just joined us as part of the pilgrimage.
“It’s been a very beautiful experience to be able to get to know one another.”
The pilgrimage was led by Dr Philip McCarthy, the creator of Hearts in Search of God, a project promoting walking pilgrimages within the Catholic dioceses of England and Wales. He gave a talk after the service on "Pilgrims of Hope: Revitalising 21st Century Pilgrimage".
- With thanks to Marcin Mazur for the photographs. You can see the full collection here
