Whether to Catholic Shrines to honour Our Lady and the Saints, to reconnect with our Catholic history and heritage or to emphasise our respect for God’s Creation, walking pilgrimages are more popular than ever! For those able to walk all or even some of the way to a holy place, it is a direct and public witnessing to our faith, can avoid environmentally-damaging travel and is an act of penitence and devotion valued highly by Pope Francis*.

The seventh annual Diocesan St Wilfrid’s Way Pilgrimage returns on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 October 2022 – and has inspired author, pilgrim and former CSAN CEO Dr Philip McCarthy to use our two-day walking ‘camino’ as a model to initiate a unique Catholic Pilgrimage Project. ‘Hearts in Search of God’ will help Catholic dioceses in England and Wales found, re-found, and promote both traditional and new walking routes between their Cathedral and local Shrines.

Our Diocese of Leeds St Wilfrid’s Way Pilgrimage route stretches from Leeds Cathedral to St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church, Ripon. The Pilgrimage has a distinct Laudato Si’ focus, as pilgrims walk through some of the most beautiful natural environment as well as visiting notable sites of Catholic history and heritage within our Diocese, of which St Wilfrid is one of our Patrons, along with Our Lady of Unfailing Help.

The first day’s destination is the mediaeval Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag in Knaresborough with its rockery garden comprised entirely of Marian plants and flowers. On day two, we will call in at Ripon Cathedral, built on the site where 1350 years ago this year, St Wilfrid first consecrated his basilica, before ending with a Vigil Mass at the stunning Catholic Church of St Wilfrid in Ripon.

Pilgrims are welcome to join any part of this pilgrimage and the 5.30pm Vigil Mass in Ripon – but as this is a fully risk-assessed pilgrimage, anyone intending to walk should first register their interest by emailing Rowan Morton-Gledhill at communications@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

… and St Wilfrid’s Way this isn’t our only Laudato Si’-inspired walking pilgrimage in the Diocese of Leeds to bring pilgrims to a closer and deeper appreciation of the environment …

Other models for conservation and environmentally-inspired walking pilgrimages include our Diocesan Laudato Si’ Mini-Pilgrimages, which since 2018 have been celebrations of God’s Creation and of our care for the earth, Our Common Home.

In June, September and November of 2021, there were three of these short, seasonal, risk-assessed and Covid-safe guided walks through Ilkley’s Myddelton Grange estate, farmland, grassland and woodlands to the historic C19th Calvary and Stations of the Cross. Guided by the Myddelton Estate Manager (the late and much-missed Paul Elgar, may he Rest in Peace), information on a variety of diocesan conservation projects on the Myddelton site was made available to pilgrims and visitors alike. Participants were updated on plans and any progress being made on ideas they had suggested to Diocese of Leeds Property Office. (The varied suggestions were both long-and short term, including wheelchair-accessible paths to the Calvary, investigating possibilities of a ‘green burials’ site, wildlife and bird-watching ‘hides’, and a lych-gate-type ‘natural shelter’ at the entrance to the Calvary to enable the return and preservation from weather damage of the carved gateway.)

Volunteers are still being sought to help repair some of the existing Laudato Si’ and conservation interpretation boards around the woodland and Calvary which are also suffering the effects of weather!

Laudato Si’ Mini-Pilgrimages to other environmentally-important sacred sites within the Diocese include the short walk, suitable for school groups, between the mediaeval Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag and St Robert’s Cave on the banks of the River Nidd at Knaresborough.

A further walking pilgrimage across Ilkley Moor is planned to retrace the steps of GK Chesterton’s first meeting with Fr John O’Connor: the Leeds Diocesan Priest who was the ‘model’ for Father Brown and who received GK into the Catholic Church 100 years ago this July.

Please contact environment@dioceseofleeds.org.uk or communications@dioceseofleeds.org.uk with suggestions for other Laudato Si’ events and recommendations for any other pilgrimage routes, especially ones suitable for school groups and our Diocesan Faith in Action Awards.

*Pope Francis has been a keen advocate of walking to holy places (for those who are able):

If YOUR parish, school or charity is coming up with ideas and initiatives – big or small – to become more sustainable, PLEASE let us know by emailing environment@dioceseofleeds.org.uk or communications@dioceseofleeds.org.uk so your stories and images can inspire others across the Diocese of Leeds and beyond. All contributions will be published on this website and may also be of interest to local and Catholic press and media!