On Return from Walsingham

Late on Sunday night, I arrived home, after three days of the Ely to Walsingham walking pilgrimage.  I hasten to add that I was not one of the walkers, who numbered nearly 70.  My role was to move the cooking gear and baggage around, as well as a certain amount of shopping on the way.

The weather was not all that kind to the walkers, who in the course of the 55 miles got soaked several times, especially on the second day.  However, the sun shone all the time that we were in Walsingham.  Fuller reports with pictures, mostly rather dreary ones taken in the rain, can be found on the blogs of LMS Chairman and Chaplain Abroad.

After several days without internet access, it was very pleasing to catch up with some very good pieces of news from around the world.  Perhaps the most exciting is that the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest have secured ownership of the Sacred Heart Church in Limerick and its adjacent very large presbytery. 

This very fine Georgean church in the centre of Limerick was originally owned by the Jesuits.  Some years ago it was purchased by a property developer who intended to turn it into some sort of club and gymnesium.  One idea was that the nave of the church should become a swimming pool.  Fortunately, the collapse of the Irish economy and the subsequent recession intervened; and the building has remained unused, although deprived of some of its treasures.  Restoration will probably take several years and a great deal of money, but it will eventually be a stunning church.

The Institute of Christ the King is not unfamiliar with such projects.  They have undertaken similar, or more ambitious, enterprises in America, most notably in Chicargo, St Louis and Kansas City.  See their US website for details.