Please follow the link below for the latest information about the confirmed location of the Beatification of Cardinal Newman.

www.paxtravel.co.uk/stoppress_newman

I should like to wish a big welcome home to the pilgrims from ACN (Aid to The Church in Need) who have just returned from a memorable visit along the pilgrims route to Santiago de Compostela. To quote from the press release by John Newton on their visit:

“FRIENDS and supporters of Aid to the Church in Need who completed a week-long pilgrimage to the Tomb of St James in Spain were delighted to be granted last-minute special access to the relics of the saint.

Twenty-two benefactors of the charity, who walked up to 18 miles a day, arrived in Santiago de Compostela on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (11^th June).

But mile-long queues stretching out of the cathedral that day meant that some members of the group were unable to visit the relics.

Next morning, the guide from Christian tour operator Pax Travel, which coordinated the pilgrimage alongside ACN, asked the cathedral sacristan for a special viewing.

Initially the request was refused until eventually the sacristan changed his mind and the ACN pilgrims were granted a private visit to the relics at least an hour before they were opened to the general public.  

2010 is a special jubilee year of the Apostle James and pilgrims who visit his shrine in Compostela can obtain a plenary indulgence.

            The veneration of St James in Santiago Cathedral includes climbing up steps behind the altar to a golden statue of the saint. The statue is then given a hug.

            Pilgrims then descend to the crypt under the altar, where the relics are kept in a silver casket.

During this jubilee year, an indulgence is granted to any pilgrim who prays at the tomb of the St James, and fulfils the usual conditions – prayer for the Pope’s intentions, reception of communion and recent confession. The next jubilee will not be until 2021.

ACN pilgrimage coordinator Portia Borrett was delighted that everyone got to see the saint’s relics.

She added: “I felt that every person had brought something special to the pilgrimage and I felt privileged to have travelled with them.”

The pilgrims were accompanied by ACN UK chaplain Father Martin Edwards, who said daily Mass.

Also travelling to Santiago in the same week was Damian Carroll. He walked about 500 miles from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-port, France over six weeks to raise funds for the ACN-supported Save the Saveable project in the Sudan.

Save the Saveable is providing Christian education for more than 15,000 children living in displacement camps around Khartoum, the capital of the Sudan.

Pax Travel made a £20 donation towards Save the Saveable for each pilgrim.

Sudan is a priority for ACN help in Africa receiving key support for projects including catechesis programmes, training for priests, sisters and seminarians, construction of churches, and ACN Child’s Bibles.”