A group of parishioners from the South Yorkshire ex-mining village of Grimethorpe set off this month on an epic pilgrimage to Italy, to plead for closer unity between Catholics and the Church of England.
The nine travelers, led by their Anglican Parish Priest, Father Peter Needham, will hand Vatican officials what they call "a petition of the common people's faith in the need for Church Unity."
Speaking on Trinity Sunday (May 22), the Church's day of focus on Unity, Fr. Needham said: "Jesus Christ's very own prayer was 'that all may be one'. But the establishment seems do all they can to make sure we are not one yet! Jesus prayed that all may believe. Is there any wonder that people don't believe when the church is not one?"
The pilgrims leave on June 26th for the 3,000 mile round trip in a borrowed minibus. They'll represent Grimethorpe's own church, St. Luke's, and the sister church of St. Paul's, Brierley.
On the way they'll visit the tombs of their two saints. St. Paul is buried at the Basilica of St. Paul without the Walls in Rome, and the recently verified remains of St. Luke are at the abbey of St. Justina in Padua.
The pilgrims have contacted the Archbishop of Canterbury's representative to Rome, Bishop John Flack. They'll meet the Vatican spokesman on Unity, Cardinal Walter Kaspar, and hope to meet Pope Benedict XVI to hand in their petition "as a sign from the common people of God's desire for unity in line with Christ's own mission."
A copy will also be given to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams.
The pilgrims hope their sponsored journey will raise more than ?100,000 towards the ?1.5 Million target of the St. Luke's Grimethorpe Fund, to continue the regeneration of the once doomed Parish church and area. The local economy was devastated by the closure of Grimethorpe Colliery in 1993. Unemployment hit 50%, but the village is now beginning to recover.
Fr. Peter said: "My hope is that many will rally round and prove that people are passionate for unity and are prepared to be pro-active in achieving it, even though the Established Church leaves it on the back burner. So I pray that all who believe in what we are about will support us in this. Send us your names and be part of the petition of Faith."