The Catholic youth initiative, ‘Youth 2000’, has partnered with the Basilica of our Lady of Walsingham for a three-week 'Mercy Tour' around Great Britain.
“We had a beautiful night in Chichester on Monday”, Edward Morton told The Tablet, en route between Plymouth and Leicester, “and in London people came in off the streets to light candles and pray”.
The tour began in London on Friday and will progress around the UK, through major cities and minor towns, before finishing at the National Shrine of Walsingham. The core group is made up of ten young people with a van and a few cars, and they pick up and drop off extra helping hands at each location.
The scheme was born in Mr Morton's kitchen. “We were thinking about the new media; we wanted to connect with people. We wanted to give a gift to the country.”
According to the tour website, “A group of young missionaries will be covering 1,500 miles and 13 venues throughout the UK evangelising in city centres and inviting people of all ages to open evenings of worship and reconciliation, in adoration.” The aim will be to “bring people to encounter God’s mercy, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.”
In practice, this involves open doors, adoration, Youth 2000’s signature contemporary worship music, and Confession offered by local priests – most of whom are friends of Mr Morton and his co-organiser Mr John Withers.
“We just went through the phonebooks on our phones and picked the first 15 priests we could call up tomorrow and say ‘Hey, we’ve got this crazy scheme’. Then we took out the map! We especially wanted to go out to some places where it’s quieter.”
So far, the tour has been to churches in London, Richmond, Shoreham-by-Sea, Chichester, Bath and Plymouth. The coming days will see the tour head north, to Leicester, Sheffield, Manchester and Glasgow. They will travel back to Walsingham via Nottingham. The end of the tour coincides with the beginning of the Youth 2000 Summer Prayer Festival, which sees over 1000 young adults and families gather at Walsingham for prayer, catechesis, workshops and perpetual adoration.
The statue of Our Lady of Walsingham from the Slipper Chapel is accompanying the tour.
“Everyone’s been so thankful that people have come to them rather than them having to travel somewhere else,” says Mr Lawton. “It’s nice when it’s brought to your doorstep.”
The group has been inspired by the Pope’s specific encouragement to young people to be creative and outgoing in their faith. “Pope Francis is asking people to make a bit of a mess in their parishes. Parish priests are busy, everyone is busy, so what can we do? I’m busy too, but we just have to do it. So often we know what we need to do but we don’t do it. So we’re doing it!”
The Rector of Walsingham professes himself thrilled by the idea. "I’m absolutely delighted that Youth 2000 is taking the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham on tour with them," Msgr John Armitage said. "It’s wonderful that a group of young people are helping the shrine to develop and broadcast this great and exciting message of Walsingham, which is to use the example of the Annunciation to encourage us all to accept Jesus Christ into our lives."
Dates and locations for the tour are available on its website.
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