Bishop celebrates open air Mass with barefoot pilgrims on Holy Island

Bishop John Rawsthorne led up to 200 people in a pilgrimage to Holy Island on Saturday 5 July.

The theme of this year’s Holy Island pilgrimage was “The Legacy of Oscar Romero” and the pilgrims from across Leeds, Hexham and Newcastle and Middlesbrough paused at various points along the route to reflect on this. Many walked the route barefoot, which is said to be the best way because of the mud-like sand.

Friends and CAFOD supporters, Margaret Kirby and Mary Tobin from Bishop Auckland, who chose to complete the pilgrimage barefoot, said: “We’ve been CAFOD supporters for over 22 years now and in that time we’ve been on quite a few pilgrimages. It’s been a lovely day – being part of something like this brings a sense of closeness between all the supporters and you really feel like

you’re part of something bigger.”

Pilgrims were also joined by Antony Mbandi from CAFOD’s partner organisation in Kenya, Caritas Kitui. Antony spoke to pilgrims about CAFOD’s latest project to help restore the water supply in Kitui, Kenya and connect the community to the UK.

Antony said: “The joint project between CAFOD and Caritas Kitui is directly helping 14,500 people. The good thing about CAFOD is that supporters can see exactly where their donation is going – it’s targeted to specific projects which are really making an impact on the ground. For me, it is all about connections been made between the communities here and in Kitui. Through working with and supporting CAFOD, people in this country are given the opportunity to help the people of Kitui help themselves.”

In the afternoon, Bishop Rawsthorne from the Hallam Diocese celebrated an open air Mass with the pilgrims underneath the island’s St Aidan statue. He preached movingly about how Archbishop Oscar Romero gave his life as he became a voice for the voiceless. Bishop Rawsthorne encouraged the congregation to pray for the canonisation of the martyr.

CAFOD manager for Hexham and Newcastle Anne-Marie Hanlon said: “It was a wonderful day and it was lovely to celebrate Mass out in the open. We’re really thankful to Bishop Rawsthorne for joining us and it was great to have Antony speak about Hands On.”